Save Me
by MagicInMe123
Summary: When Aria is attacked one night, can her girlfriend Spencer make this better? Can Aria learn to trust again? Will they ever be able to love each other like they used to? SPARIA FIC! Spencer/Aria and Hannily Hanna/Emily
1. Chapter 1

Spencer Hastings was walking in the park one night around 8 o'clock waiting for Aria. Life was good, except for A bothering her and her two best friends and girlfriend. Everyone was shocked when THE Spencer Hastings admitted to having feelings for Aria. Even more so when Aria returned those feelings. She broke up with Ezra and now she and Spencer had the perfect relationship.

Aria was supposed to be here at 7:30 and Spencer was getting worried. Aria always told Spencer she worried too much. Spencer had tried calling her several times but she didn't pick up. Spencer hoped nothing bad had happened, she told herself that she was just being silly but she could help her mind from wandering.

Spencer sat down on a park bench and checked her phone again. Her head snapped up when she heard someone coming. She looked up to see Aria, bruised, limping and shaking. Spencer got up and ran over to her.

"Aria! Oh my god. Baby what happened? Are you okay?" Spencer questioned.

"Y-yeah, I'm good. I…I, not Spence, I'm not." Aria whispered.

"Hey, come on why I don't I take us somewhere private and we can talk there okay?" Spencer said, her voice shaking now too.

Aria took a step forward and winced. She fell forward but Spencer caught her and pulled her into a tight hug. Aria winced again and gasped. She struggled out of Spencer's hold, tears streaming down her face.

Spencer's eyes narrowed. She'd never seen Aria cry before and they'd been friends forever.

"Aria" Spencer said in a broken voice.

"I'm so sorry" Aria whispered.

"Hey, don't be sorry. Let's just go somewhere private and I can take a look at you. And if I think its necessary I WILL take you to a doctor and I except you to not put up a fight Aria." Spencer warned.

"N-no! No doctor Spence, you can just make sure I'm okay. I mean you studying to be a doctor. I'm s-sure it's nothing. I'm p-probably just overreacting." Aria stuttered.

Spencer ignored Aria's horrible lie and wrapped and arm around her waist. Aria gasped and flinched away before putting her arm around Spencer's shoulders. Spencer walked Aria into the car, buckled her seatbelt and drove her to Spencer's house in complete silence.

When they got there Spencer looked over at Aria. She had tears streaming down her cheeks and she was visibly shaking. Spencer hadn't noticed Aria's ripped clothes or all the blood and bruises that seemed so bold now. She reached for Aria hand and intertwined it with hers. Aria jumped and shivered before looking at Spencer with fear-filled eyes.

"Hey" Spencer whispered in a low tone. "We're here."

Aria's eyes widened even more. "Spence are you crazy! Your house, the one with your w-whole family? They, they can't see me like this!" Aria panicked.

"Shhh, Aria it's okay. My whole family is out of town and your parents already think you're spending the week here anyways, remember?" Spencer comforted.

"Oh, sorry Spence. I guess I'm pretty out of it tonight." Aria apologized.

Spencer opened her door and went around to Aria to help her. Spencer opened it and Aria stood up. She gasped and was about to fall back when Spencer caught her. Spencer raised her eyebrows and tried to examine Aria in the dark. Not being able to see her very well, Spencer wrapped her arm around Aria waist causing her to flinch and pull away again. Aria and Spencer sigh and tried again. Aria flinched violently but wrapped a shaking arm around Spencer.

"God this is embarrassing." Aria muttered.

"Aria, being hurt and needing help isn't something you need to feel embarrassed about." Spencer comforted.

"Spencer, it's late. Is it okay if I just take a shower and get some sleep? I can t-tell you what happened tomorrow. I just… I feel so dirty." Aria said, choking back a sob.

Spencer felt her heart break. They were under Spencer's porch light and she could see Aria's dried blood all over her ripped and torn clothes that hid some very dark, painful looking bruises. Tears leaked from the eyes of both girls.

"Aria, I'm so sorry. I wish I could just let you go get some sleep and be happy and forget the whole thing but I can't. I need to do a physical exam. You also need to tell me exactly what happened. Then, maybe you can take a shower and get some sleep after all that. I'm sorry but from now until I'm done with the exam, you're my patient and I'm your doctor. That's how it has to be." Spencer said, in her business tone that cracked twice.

Aria said nothing and followed Spencer into her house. They both grimaced when they looked at the stairs. They slowly worked their way up them until they got to Spencer's bathroom. Spencer let go of Aria and turned on the lights. She looked at Aria who refused to meet her gaze. Aria looked down, feeling exposed at the rips in her clothes she took Spencer's robe and was about to wrap it around her shaking body when Spencer caught her hand. Spencer shot her an apologetic look and put the robe back.

"Aria, I'm going to need to you to take your clothes off." Spencer commanded softly.

Aria froze like a deer in the headlights. Her body shook very hard and she curled up in a ball. She lied down on the floor and gasped for air. She felt like she couldn't breathe and her throat was tight and dry. She gasped and curled up tighter. Spencer dropped to the ground and tried to loosen Aria from her curled up position. Spencer felt Aria's heart rate go through the roof.

"Aria, baby please. I need you to calm down and breathe with me. Shhh, that's good in and out. Slowly, gently. That's good, yeah breathe with me Aria. Just breathe with me." Spencer coaxed.

When Aria finally stopped her panic attack she looked up to see worry etched in Spencer's beautiful face.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to freak out like that." Aria mumbled.

"No honey, this isn't your fault." Spencer comforted. "Tell you what, why don't you just tell me what happened now. And I can be your doctor after you tell me the story. Let's just get you comfortable until then okay?" Spencer said.

Aria nodded once and Spencer helped her to her bed. She layed Aria down on one side and she layed down on the other. Aria curled herself into a tight ball and Spencer slowly moved closer. She gently pulled Aria out of her ball and wrapped her arms around Aria's waist. Aria struggled at first, then relaxed visibly into Spencer's embrace.

"Whenever you're ready." Spencer encouraged.

Aria took a deep, shaky breath and began "It was this afternoon. It was raining really hard and I was soaked to the bone on the sidewalk. My car wouldn't start so I walked. I was on my way home to get ready from our date. My Mom had asked me to drop some mail off at the post office so I walked it there. On my way back, Ezra offered me a ride home. We'd been on good terms lately so I agreed and thanked him. I got in the passenger's seat and we drove. We talked about Hollis and his new job mostly and some new book he had inspiration for. He drove by my house and I told him it was turn. H-he laughed said we weren't going there. H-he picked me and up and dragged me into his apartment. I-I told him a-about us and how I l-love you but he wouldn't listen."

Aria choked back another sob. Her entire body trembling so hard the whole bed shook. Spencer was afraid Aria was on the verge on another panic attack.

"Aria, shhh. It's okay. You need to calm down baby; you're going to make yourself sick." Spencer coaxed.

Spencer patted Aria's back in slow circles until she shook less and her breathing returned to a less dangerous pace. Spencer tightened her grip on Aria's waist to try and make her feel safe.

"Go ahead, whenever you're ready." Spencer encouraged again.

Aria let out another shaky breath and continued "He beat me, telling me that he was way too good for me and that breaking up with him was the biggest mistake of my life. He told me you'd leave me and that I was no good dirty whore. Then he started r-ripping my clothes and I begged him to stop. You have to believe me Spence! I fought back, I begged and cried but he wouldn't listen. I'm so sorr-"

"WHAT! Aria, you can't actually believe I'd be bad at you for this. I'm going to KILL him Aria! This is not your fault. I swear to god I-"Spencer yelled, shaking with anger. She stopped when she felt Aria tremble with fear. Aria afraid of her was the last thing Spencer needed so she shut-up and let Aria to finish.

"He told me I needed to know what a real man was like so he. H-he, forced himself into me. It was awful and painful and terrible. I'm so sorry Spencer! I wanted my f-first to b-be you." Aria bawled openly now, sobbing into Spencer's chest. Spencer pulled her tight and wrapped her arms tighter around Aria protectively.

Spencer whispered comforting words in Aria's ears. She hugged her and kissed her cheek. She told Aria she loved her just a much, if not more and thanked her for telling her. Spencer knew she had an emergency rape kit in the bathroom. Aria would need to take it after the exam Spencer still had to give her. This just made things worse.

"T-that's not even the worst part." Aria whispered brokenly. "He made me take an ice bath, for over an h-hour. Then h-he beat me more and did i-it again."

Aria was sobbing and crying again and Spencer fought to control her anger and urge to go kill _Mr. Fitz._ She was going to kill him; she'd never seen anyone, especially not her Aria so broken before.

"Aria, Aria hey. I love you. Nothing and no one is ever going to change that. We **will** get through this and I can help you. Tonight, I need to do a physical exam and…baby, baby I need to do a rape kit too." Spencer told her hesitantly.

This brought on a fresh round of sobs from Aria but no argument.

"O-okay." Aria choked out.

"I'll be gentle baby, I promise. Nothing will ever hurt you again." Spencer vowed. "Now let's just get this over with and then you can take a shower okay?"

Aria nodded and sat up. With Spencer's help the two girls walked/limped into the bathroom.

Even now, covered in bruises, blood and shaking with fear-filled eyes; every time Spencer looked into Aria's beautiful eyes, she fell in love all over again.

**Please R&R. It's a several chapter story so don't worry, this isn't the end! This is the first Sparia story so lemme know what you think . **


	2. Chapter 2

Spencer took Aria's hand and led her to the bathroom. She helped Aria sit up on the counter. She looked at Aria's face, tears leaked from Aria's eyes and she was shaking. Aria had her arms crossed over her chest and her knees pull up, almost like she was trying to shield herself from the world. Spencer sighed; she couldn't bear to see Aria, the strongest girl she'd ever known so upset and broken. Spencer sat up on the bathroom counter next to Aria.

Spencer wrapped an arm around the smaller girl. Aria flinched and look up at her girlfriend. Spencer looked at Aria with questioning eyes and whipped a fresh tear off of Aria cheek. Aria smiled and tucked one of Spencer's strands of hair behind her ear.

"Aria, the sooner we get this over with the sooner we can be done with all this. You ready?" Spencer asked, concerned.

Aria cleared her throat and shook herself back into reality.

"Yeah Spence, let's get it over with." Aria said with a grimace.

Aria pulled herself off the counter. She shivered and traced the lining of her torn shirt. Aria's hands shook so badly Spencer could see them. Spencer's eyes filled with unshed tears and she got off the counter. She stepped very close to Aria, wrapping her arms around the shaking girl. Aria leaned into Spencer's warm, protective embrace.

After standing there, enjoying each other's embrace, Spencer pulled back and gripped the hem of Aria's shirt. Aria looked frightened but let out a quiet thanks. Spencer nodded and gently shed Aria of her shirt.

Spencer let out a quiet gasp at Aria's shirtless figure. Every inch of stomach and chest was covered in bruises. Aria winced and moved her arms to cover herself but Spencer caught and held her wrists. Spencer continued to stare and tears formed in her eyes. Aria looked down, ashamed and let the tears fall freely from her own eyes as well. Spencer let Aria's wrists go and gently traced Aria's hand and foot shaped bruises. Aria winced and took a step back. Spencer took a step forward and continued to trace them.  
>"Oh Aria." Spencer choked out.<p>

"Hey, hey Spence it looks a lot worse than it is." Aria comforted. Aria knew that since Spencer had comforted for since she saw her, that it was her turn to do the comforting.

"How can you say that Aria? This must have hurt like h-hell. I should take you to a real doctor, why did I think I could handle this?" Spencer cried out, on the verge of her own break down.

"Spence, Spencer hey. Calm down. You're fine; I'm fine everything is okay. You need to calm down and breathe a little bit. Everything is going to work out, you are going to bandage me up, do whatever needs to be done. I'll take a shower, you'll take a shower and in the morning everything will be back to normal." Aria consoled.

Spencer threw her arms around Aria, who winced and fought back the urge to scream. She gently wrapped her throbbing arms around a now shaking and sobbing Spencer.

"I-I'm sorry Aria. I should be the one comforting you right now. I just, when I-I saw I was s-so scared! I thought I might lose you." Spencer sobbed.

"Hey, it's alright. You don't need to worry about that Spence; you couldn't lose me if you tried." Aria said with a reassuring smile. And even though the two girls had never felt more scared or broken in their lives, they had each other and that was all they needed.

**Sorry, I know its short I was just super busy today. I'll update tomorrow or that day after. I just wanted to right a little bit of what all this made Spencer, the worrier feel. So please let me know what you think! Should I keep going? **


	3. Chapter 3

"Aria, hey tim

e to wake up." Spencer whispered.

"No, I don't want to get up yet!" Aria groaned.

Spencer giggled and pulled back the covers. She walked around the other side of the bed and pulled Aria up gently, careful of her injuries. Aria shot right up and looked at the clock on the night side table.

"Jeez Spence, early much?" Aria said.

Before Spencer had time to respond Aria leaned in and kissed Spencer. Spencer was shocked but carefully wrapped an arm around Aria's waist and kissed her back. Aria twisted her fingers into Spencer's long hair and deepened the kiss. Spencer confused but happy continued to kiss Aria.

After the couple finally pulled away from each other Aria grinned and took Spencer's hand, leading her down the stairs. Spencer wrapped an arm around Aria to help her walk down the stairs, trying to be careful of the still injured girl.

As they walked into the kitchen, Spencer had to ask "Aria, what was that up there before?"

Aria let out a shaky laugh "What do you mean Spence?"

Spencer shook her head disapprovingly "Don't play dumb, Aria you know exactly what I'm talking about. Is everything…okay?"

"Yeah of course, why wouldn't it be?" Aria answered quickly.

"Well, for one you got attacked last night." Spencer said in an obvious tone of voice.

"So? That means I'm not allowed to kiss my girlfriend?" Aria said, wrapping her arms around Spencer's waist.

"No, you can I just…I'm confused." Spencer admitted. "I've read stories on abuse victims and they literally flinch when anyone gets too close to them. And here you are all ready to kiss me? I just don't want you to feel pressured. And I don't want you to…think about what happened."

"Spence, He doesn't even cross my mind when I kiss you. You're all I think about. And you're right, I don't want to be around other people, I just want you. You make me feel…safe. Like nothing will ever hurt me again as long as I'm with you." Aria murmured, blushing.

Spencer laughed softly. "You're right; I won't let anything ever hurt you again. I just worry about you before…you're, you're really tiny and I love you." Spencer confessed. **(I love that scene last night!)**

"I love you too Spence, you're more than anything." Aria said.

**Just a short chapter so you guys know I am still very much involved with this story. Hope you like it. More review = Faster updates. **


	4. Chapter 4

"Aria, I think we should talk about this." Spencer said, as she muted the TV she and Aria were mindlessly watching.

The two were cuddled up on the couch with Aria in Spencer's safe arms carefully wrapped around her delicate waist. Aria sat like a zombie; trying to fool Spencer into thinking she was fine. Spencer could feel Aria shake ever so slightly that if she didn't know her so well, she wouldn't even notice that Aria tensed every time a commercial with a man in it came on.

"Talk about what Spence?" Aria asked in confusion.

Spencer sigh, she knew Aria wouldn't want to talk about this. Hell,_ she_ didn't even want to talk about this but she couldn't let the girls she loved be so broken on the inside and pretend to be okay on the outside. Spencer knew she needed to help Aria open up and trust her. She also knew that the denial stage came first.

"When are you going to tell you parents? Hannah and Emily?" Spencer asked, starting with the easiest topic.

"I'm not." Aria stated simply.

"Aria…" Spencer started, tightening her grip on Aria's waist.

"No Spence, I don't _want _people to know. I know want the look of pity, the doctors checking me out, the stares and whispers. I just want it all to be normal and forget this entire nightmare." Aria said in a shaking voice.

"Aria, baby I know that and it will. I promise you in due time, everything will go back to normal but not until you truly get over this." Spencer vowed.

"Okay." Aria said weakly, caving in to Spencer's logic. "I'll tell them. Can you ask them to come over?"

"Sure, I'll call Hannah right now." Spencer said, untangling herself from Aria and looking for her phone."

"_At least it's a start." _Thought Spencer.

Hey guys! I know it's a super short chaper. I've been insanely busy but I am continuing all my stories. Sorry for the huge delay! I'll be better about it! Thanks, love you all!

-Magic


	5. Chapter 5

Spencer got off the couch and walked up the stairs to her bedroom. As she picked up the phone to start dialing, she realized that this was the longest time in two days she'd gone with Aria being next to her.

"Hello?" Hannah answered her phone.

"Hey Han, its Spencer. Is Emily with you? It's kind of important." Spencer said quickly.

"Yeah, she's upstairs. Why, what's going on?" Hannah questioned.

"I really can't explain right now but something's wrong. With Aria and I need you and Emily to get to my house as soon as possible." Spencer said, her voice cracking.

"Okay, we'll be there in 15. Tell Aria to hold on and we'll be there as soon as we can." Hannah responded, her voice changing to the same urgent tone Spencer had.

Spencer hung up the phone and walked back down the stairs to find Aria curled up in a ball, her knees pulled up to her chest rocking back and forth, looking both impossibly adorable and devastated at the same time. Spencer got closer slowly, trying to scare Aria in here seemingly catatonic state.

"Aria?" Spencer questioned weakly. "Can you hear me?"

Aria tensed before making eye contact with Spencer and relaxing her muscles.

"Yeah. I'm tired not deaf, Spence." Aria said jokingly.

Spencer breathed a sigh of relief before sitting on the couch and pulling her girlfriend into a much more comfortable position on Spencer's lap.

"Hannah and Emily will be here in about ten minutes so we have that long to get you prepared." Spencer told her. "How are you, nervous? Scared?"

"I'm… I don't know. It just doesn't seem real to me yet." Aria said in a distant voice.

Spencer frowned; she'd known for a while that this stage in victims of assault, especially sexual often had this reaction, denial. Aria seemed to be getting more and more distant as the day wore on and it was worrying Spencer.

Before Spencer could comment, the doorbell rang. Spencer got up and got to reveal an anxious looking Hannah and a petrified looking Emily standing in the doorway.

**Hey Guys! Sorry its short but I also updated my The Lying Game story tonight, I know I have written in a while but I'm working on it. So let me know if you liked it or hate it. Comments, concerns ext. **

**Thanks for reading **


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey guys, come in." Spencer said, as she usher the two girls into her house.

"Where is she, where's Aria?" Emily said, her voice tight as her eyes frantically searched around before resting on Spencer's couch, contain the broken girl.

"Aria! Oh my god what happened to you?" Hannah questioned, her heart breaking at the sight of the bruises littering the tiny girl's body.

Hannah quickly crossed the room, not giving Aria a chance to respond and stood right in front of the couch.

"Hannah wait, I-"Spencer started to warn the other girl.

But it was too late; Hannah had already pulled Aria up off the couch and into a circle of her arms. Aria tensed immediately, the girlish scent of Hannah's perfume made her relax enough to return to hug, wrapping her bruised and shaking arms around Hannah's waist.

"Hi Hannah." Aria said, her voice tight and Spencer could see she was trying not to cry. Seeing the look of pain of Aria's face, Emily crossed the room and gently pulled her arms around Hannah's waist, getting her to let go of Aria. Hannah spun around in annoyance but upon seeing the way Emily was studying Aria, she turned back around and let out a gasp.

"I-I'm sorry Aria. I didn't know I was hurting you." Hannah stuttered out, her eyes filling with tears.

"It's alright Han, I'm fine." Aria said forcing a smile.

Aria sat back down and Spencer took a seat next to Aria, very close but not touching her as she was sure Aria would have flinched away. Hannah and Emily seemed to take a hint and sat down across from the couple on the opposite couch.

The four girls sat in silence, Spencer keeping a watchful eye on Aria, who still seemed to be shaking. Hannah and Emily exchanged worried glances.

"Okay, screw this. Aria what the hell happened to you?" Hannah asked, breaking the silence.

Aria flinched and drew back into herself at Hannah's tone. Spencer opened her mouth to yell at her when Emily beat her to it.

"Hannah! Try to be a little gentler okay? I'm sure Aria would appreciate it." Emily scolded before turning her attention back to Aria.

"Its fine Han, thanks Em." Aria addressed her friends, glad to have them with her.

Aria took a deep calming breath before recounting the story of what Ezra did and said, leaving out a few gory details that Aria thought only needed to be known by her and Spencer. By the time she was finished, the small girl was in tears. She'd pulled her knees up to her chest and let silent tears fall from her face. Spencer watched in concern, wanting to reach out and pull the younger girl into a tight hug, but refrained from contact, as she was sure Aria had just relived the nauseating event.

"Oh Aria…" Emily said in concern, she and Hannah both had tears freely streaming down their faces as well and stood up to gather the small brunette in their arms. Emily locked eyes with Spencer asking the silent question if she was allowed to touch her. Receiving a subtle shake of the head, she sat back down pulling Hannah with her.

"I'm so sorry Aria. You'll get through this, I know you will. You have Spencer and Emily and Me. We'll get you through this I promise." Hannah said.

"God, I'm so sorry." Hannah whispered, getting up and pulling Aria off the couch and into another tight hug. She ignored the death glare from Spencer and cried as she hugged the traumatized girl. Aria stiffened at the contact, not wanting to be touched by anyone other than Spencer at the moment. Aria's breathing became more and more shallow as she look at Spencer with wild, terrified eyes.

"Hannah, you need to let her go." Spencer said, her voice leaving no room for argument.

Hannah looked confused but dropped her arms from around her friend and took a step back. Upon seeing the terror in Aria's eyes and hearing her uneven breathing Hannah looked heart-broken. Emily pulled Hannah into a hug, whispering that it wasn't her fault.

Spencer pulled Aria away from their friends and tried to touch her arm. When Aria's muscles tensed, Spencer took a step back.

"Aria, look at me. Just me, focus on my breathing." Spencer coached.

Aria's breathing began to even out and her eyes focused purely on Spencer.

"S-sorry Spence. I didn't mean to freak the girls out." Aria apologized, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Hey, don't even worry about it okay? They understand." Spencer comforted.

The taller girl reached out to grab Aria's hand but again she flinched and shrunk back into herself.

"Um, if it's a-alright can I take a shower? Clear my head?" Aria asked, her voice shaking.

"Yeah, yeah of course. Do you need any help?" Spencer asked in a low, concerned voice.

Aria shook her head and slowly limped towards the stairs. Spencer wanted to follow her and help her but she knew that Aria wanted her independence and privacy so against her better judgment, she let her go.

Spencer walked about into the living room and joined Hannah and Emily on the couch.

"How is she doing, really?" Emily asked, her voice dripping with concern.

The three girls heard the shower water turn on and quiet cries coming from upstairs. Spencer's muscles tensed as it took all of her will power not to race up the stairs and pull her obviously distraught girlfriend into the safety of her arms. Spencer swallowed harshly and turned her attention back to Emily.

"Not great. I don't think it's real to her yet. Remember when Alison died, and she just left? Pretended like nothing happened until we started getting messages from "A"? I think that's her defense mechanism, she's blocking it out. "Spencer answered sadly.

"How are you doing?" Hannah asked, reaching out and taking Spencer's hand in her own.

Spencer let out a shaky breath before answering "Not so great. I love her so much but she won't let me help her."

"It'll get easier I promise. And we'll be there for her in whatever way we can Spencer, you know that." Emily promised.

"Yeah, we love Aria too and we'll do whatever it takes to get back." Hannah vowed.

"Thank you guys, it's so sweet of you. I think tonight I need to stay with Aria alone but this weekend why don't you guys come back and spend the night? I think that'd be good for her." Spencer asked; glad to have the support of her two best friends.

"We'd love to." Emily said, getting up and pulling Hannah with her.

"We're going to go and give you two some privacy, but you take care of Aria and yourself." Hannah said.

"And you call us if you need anything, seriously _anything_ even if you just want to vent." Emily said seriously, making eye contact with Spencer.

Spencer nodded as the two girls pulled her into a tight goodbye-hug. As soon as the two other girls left Spencer made her way up the stairs and sat on her bed, waiting for Aria.

**Hey everyone! I'm sorry its been so long since I updated. I won't wait this long again. Please review what you liked and maybe didn't (gently!) As well as suggestions. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Aria finished washing the strawberry shampoo out of her hair as the sobs forming in the back of her throat died down. Her entire body was shaking so she leaned down and turned the hot water on as high as it would go. The scalding water and steam seemed to relax her stiff muscles. She closed her eyes and tried to think about anything other than the look of fear in Hannah's eyes when she had to pull away from a hug from her best friend, practically her sister. The image of pure pity in Emily's eyes had been forever burned into her memory.

A few tears continued to trickle out of her eyes. She let out sigh. Aria was sick of crying, sick of being pitied, and sick of Spencer looking at her like something that she needed to fix. She knew that Spencer had her best interest in mind but that didn't make things any easier. Aria turned off the water, the steam had blurred the mirrors. She stepped out of the water and wrapped a large, fluffy towel around her petit body. The bruises were still there, very visible and purple but they seemed to be just a little bit lighter today.

Aria's head snapped towards the door when she heard knocking.

"Aria?" Spencer called out between knocks.

"Are you okay in there?" Spencer asked.

Spencer was getting worried; Hannah and Emily had left close to half an hour ago. Aria had been in the shower for close to an hour now.

"I'm fine Spencer." Aria called back. Her voice was distant and all she truly wanted in that moment was to be left alone. However, with a girlfriend as amazing but overly-protective as Spencer; she knew that wasn't going to happen.

Aria unlocked the bathroom door and left the room. She walked into Spencer's room where the older girl was patiently waiting on the bed. The shorter girl walked over to the dresser, getting a pair of loose sweats and a comfy t-shirt from Spencer's closet. She walked back into the bathroom to change, not making eye contact with her girlfriend.

Spencer sat on the bed, just watching the girl she loved retreat back into herself even more. The older girl tried not to stare at the bruises that clearly littered the smaller girl's body. She let out a sad sigh before getting up and following Aria back into her bathroom.

"Do you need any help?" Spencer asked quietly, as she leaned on the door frame.

Aria jumped and spun around, clutching her towel tightly to her body.

"N-nope, I'm good." Aria stuttered, obviously shaken.

Spencer nodded, accepting the answer but stayed in her spot leaned against the door frame. The two girls stood in silence. Aria was waiting for Spencer to leave, but she soon realized that it wasn't going to happen.

"Spence…aren't you going to like…leave so I can change?" Aria asked awkwardly.

"I don't want this." Spencer said "This awkward tension between us. I understand that you're scared; you have every reason to be. But not of me, I don't ever want you to be scared of me."

"Spence, I'm not-"Aria protested but was quickly cut off.

"Yes, you are. Maybe not specifically me, but of anyone getting close too you. That's understandable, Ezra was your boyfriend at one point and he wasn't supposed to hurt you. I need you to know that I will never hurt you like that." Spencer finished, tears streaming gently down her face.

Aria took a few cautious steps forward before wrapping her shaking arms around her girlfriend.

"I'm sorry Spencer. I'm sorry that this whole thing happened but you need to know that deep down, I know you'll never hurt me. This whole thing…it just doesn't even seem real. But I love you. I love you the same way I did before this happened. I love you for being patient with me and helping me heal. I'm absolutely crazy about you Spence, don't ever doubt that." Aria mumbled into the taller girl's chest.

Spencer smiled and pulled out of Aria's embrace.

"Okay beautiful, get dressed and then I'll help you downstairs." Spencer said, kissing Aria's forehead and exiting the room.

* * *

><p>"Holy Shit" Hannah mumbled, leaning her head on Emily's shoulders.<p>

The ride back from Spencer's house had been completely silent. The two girls were shocked at the state of their friend. Hannah felt her heart break as she kept replaying the look on Aria's face when she hugged her in her mind. Emily had yet so say anything; she just stared out the window with a distant look in her eyes.

"What the hell are we doing just sitting here? Aria needs us, we have to go back." Hannah said angrily, getting up only to be pulled back down by Emily.

"Hannah, I want to help Aria just as much as you do but you heard what Spencer said, we can go back later. Aria is dealing with a lot right now and we can be there for her when she's ready. We just have to trust Spencer." Emily told her, gently pushing Hannah back down onto the coach and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Why did this have to h-happen to her?" Hannah whispered as tears began to leak out of her eyes. Emily soothingly rubbed Hannah's back, whispering that everything was going to be okay and they'd get her through this.

"She's going to be alright Han, Aria's strong." Emily mumbled to the crying girl.

Emily couldn't help but notice how beautiful Hannah looked right now, with her mascara smeared and the tears glistening in her sparkling blue eyes. In that moment, Emily wanted nothing more than to lean down and kiss the distressed blonde girl. The brown eyed girl quickly shook her head, Hannah would never look at her like that and being best friends was better than nothing at all. She just pulled the blonde girl closer and wiped away every tear.

"Everything is going to be okay." Emily whispered.

* * *

><p>Once Aria was dressed comfortably she walked out of the bathroom, still quite sore. She walked over to the stairs and was about to call to Spencer for help but looking down she saw her girlfriend cooking.<p>

Spencer looked absolutely adorable. The older girl had pizza sauce on her cheek, a little bit of cheese in her hair and was quietly cursing the oven. Aria slowly and painfully descended the stairs, not wanting to disturb her girlfriend. After taking several calming breaths to even out her rapid breathing, she walked over to Spencer and wrapped her arms around the taller girls' waist.

"You look adorable." Aria giggled, kissing Spencer on the cheek.

"Hey! No laughing at me! It isn't my fault I can't cook." Spencer playfully whined, leaning back into the shorter girl's relaxing embrace.

"I can't help it, you're just so cute." Aria whispered.

Leaning up on her toes, Aria gently kissed Spencer on the lips, wrapping one arm around her neck. Spencer cautiously returned the kiss; listing carefully to Aria's labored breathing. Aria depend the kiss, pulling her still fragile body up against Spencer's. The older girl gently broke the kiss, taking a small step back but regretting upon seeing the look of devastation in the smaller girl's eyes.

"Aria, we talked abou-"Spencer began only to be cut off by a hurt-looking Aria.

"Don't Spence. Just don't." Aria snapped at her.

She walked over to the front door, taking her coat and roughly pulling it around her shaking body.

Spencer followed her, cutting off her path to the front door. She tried to take Aria's hand but the younger girl flinched away.

"Aria, where are you going? You shouldn't go outside..not like this." Spencer asked softly.

"God Spencer, I'm just taking a walk. I just want to be alone." Aria said, unshed tears filling up in her eyes.

"Aria, I don't want you alone out there, if you want to take a walk I'll go with you." Spencer tried to reason, knowing that Aria walking around alone and hurt was a recipe for disaster.

"I don't want you to come with me!" Aria yelled, brushing by Spencer and walking out the door.

"Aria!" Spencer called after her, but decided against following her.

Spencer walked back into the house and picked up her phone.

"Hello?" A voice answered.

"Hey Emily, it's Spencer. Aria just stormed out, she said she wanted to be alone." Spencer explained, sounding exhausted.

"And you want me to get out and talk to her." Emily finished for her.

"Yes please. She's really upset and I think it's my fault and I'm pretty sure you're the only one Aria will talk to when she's like this." Spencer rambled.

"Hey, it's cool. I'll go get your girl and bring her back safe and sound okay? Get some sleep; you can't help her if you're exhausted." Emily reassured her friend.

"Thanks Em, you're a lifesaver." Spencer replied, letting out a sigh of relief.

"No problem, I'll see you later." Emily said.

The two girls hung up the phone and Spencer climbed the stairs and sat down on her bed.

"_Please, find her soon Em." _Spencer thought to herself before falling into a dreamless, uneasy sleep.

**Well there is the next chapter. I hope you liked it. Please review what you liked, and would like to see in the future or whatever else. Thanks for reading **


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, just before I start, the question on the age difference between the Spencer and Aria has been brought up several times to me. The girls aren't drastically different, Spencer is 18 and Aria is 17. I only said the older girl and the younger girl as ways to describe them instead of repeated their names over and over. **

Aria stumbled out into the cold night, muttering to herself about how pathetic she was. Why the hell would Spencer want to be with her anymore? She was damaged goods and never going to be good enough for anyone. She stumbled around what she assumed was a park. Aria had no idea where she was and frankly, she didn't care. Her family was out of town, her best friends were probably having fun with each other and her girlfriend didn't love her anymore. What did she have left?

After searching for about half an hour (getting calls from Spencer every 5 minutes) Emily sighed in relief as she spotted Aria's dark figure sitting on one of the swings. She pulled over into the parking lot and got out. She shivered as a gust of wind hit her with full force, causing her to pull her jacket tighter around herself. She could hear soft cries coming from the swing set and felt her heart sink, knowing they were Aria's.

"Aria?" Emily called out.

Aria stiffened; of course Spencer would send a search party.

"Aria come on, I know you're over there." Emily said, approaching the swing set.

Emily took a seat next to her and began to rock back in forth slowly.

"I used to come here too. To get away from everything and just think." Emily said turning to look at Aria.

Aria remained silent, choosing to look down at her hands.

"Look, I'm not here to be your Mom. No matter how much Spencer may want me to, I'm not here to lecture you on how irresponsible you're being. However I will say that what you did was dangerous considering you're still hurt and can't defend yourself very well right now." Emily told the smaller girl.

"I know. I know it's dangerous and I don't care. What's the point Em? My own girlfriend doesn't love me anymore." Aria said, her voice breaking.

"Is that what you think? Aria, Spencer is absolutely crazy for you. She's freaking out over you being gone for like an hour. She's worried sick. Of course she loves, what are you thinking?" Emily questioned.

"She doesn't want to k-kiss me anymore. I think I repulse her or something." Aria murmured, tears leaking out of her eyes.

"Is that what you two are fighting about?" Emily asked gently.

Aria nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest defensively.

Emily took a deep breath before saying "Aria, you know as well as anyone how overprotective Spencer can get. If she doesn't kiss you or touch you in a…y'know romantic way, she has a reason. And I know you don't want to hear this, but she's right. If I was your girlfriend, I wouldn't want to kiss you right now either. You're vulnerable. I know you probably want to deny that, but you are. Spencer is trying to do what's best for you, whether is seems like it or not."

Aria turned toward Emily with tear filled eyes and said "I don't want this anymore. I don't want to feel like this…weak, terrified, sad, and angry. I'm sick of it! I'm sick of all of this! I just want everything to go back to normal Em."

Emily got up off her swing and pulled Aria into a tight embrace. The brunette didn't flinch, but instead wrapped her arms around the taller girl's neck.

"I know Aria, I know. And it will, I know that it will. I can't promise it will be like it never happened because it did. This…event happened and we can't take that back. But we can move on." Emily whispered to the smaller girl.

"Thanks Emily, I just really needed to hear that." Aria sniffled.

"Spencer is worried sick and I like being alive, so I better get you back." Emily joked.

The two girls pulled apart and Emily gently looped her arm around Aria's shoulders. She helped Aria into the passenger's seat and she began the drive back to Spencer's.

The two girls spent the car ride back laughing and reliving old stories and good times. Aria was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. It felt good Aria thought, just to kick back and laugh with a friend. Emily suddenly turned up the radio

_You're insecure__  
><em>_Don't know what for__  
><em>_You're turning heads when you walk through the door__  
><em>_Don't need make up__  
><em>_To cover up__  
><em>_Being the way that you are is enough __Everyone else in the room can see it__  
><em>_Everyone else but you__Baby you light up my world like nobody else__  
><em>_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed__  
><em>_But when you smile at the ground it aint hard to tell__  
><em>_You don't know_

_Oh Oh__  
><em>_You don't know you're beautiful_

"This is my song!" Emily shouted.

The two girls began to sing and dance inside Emily's car. When the song ended the two girls were laughing hysterically.

They calmed down just as Emily pulled into Spencer's driveway.

"Thanks Em. I know it wasn't the ideal hangout, but I had a good time. I can't remember the last time I was that happy and just hung out with you." Aria said truthfully.

"Hey anytime. I mean it, anytime, even if it's just because Spencer is too much or you need to vent or breath, you call and I'll be there." Emily assured her.

"Thanks Emily. I love you." Aria said, pulling Emily into a hug.

The two girls got out of the car and Emily walked Aria to Spencer's front door. Emily rung the doorbell and immediately Spencer answered.

Aria and Spencer's eyes locked briefly before Spencer pulled Aria into a tight hug.

"Damn it Aria! Don't you ever scare me like that again." Spencer yelled, her eyes flashing with anger.

Aria flinched away; the yelling and anger made her feel scared. Emily, seeing this squeezed Aria's hand

"Thank you Em, for bringing her home. You're a lifesaver." Spencer thanked her. She pulled Emily into a tight hug.

"Go easy on her Spence, I mean it." Emily warned.

Spencer nodded and Emily jogged back over to her car and went home.

"I'm sorry Aria; I didn't mean to yell at you. You just got me really worried babe." Spencer apologized, pulling Aria into a gentle and safe embrace, which the younger girl quickly returned.

"I'm sorry I ran, I just really needed to think." Aria mumbled into Spencer's shoulder.

"Hey it's okay. We all need to run away sometimes." Spencer assured her.

"What do you say to having the girls over for a sleepover this tomorrow?" Spencer asked, glad that Emily seemed to improve Aria's mood substantially.

"That sounds amazing." Aria said grinning.

**Well next chapter is the sleepover! Thanks for reading and please review. **


	9. Chapter 9

The girls woke up the next morning feeling oddly excited. Tonight was going to be the first sleepover since the entire "incident." Aria was excited to have some sense of normalcy as well as have her friends around so Spencer wouldn't be constantly checking on her. Spencer was nervous and excited; she was glad Aria was feeling up to company, but still a little nervous considering the events of the previous night. The couple was currently seated on a loveseat downstairs in Spencer's living room.

Aria rested her head on the taller brunette's shoulder, while Spencer had her arm wrapped loosely around Aria's waist.

"This can't last forever Aria." Spencer stated quietly.

Aria lifted her head off Spencer's should and turned to meet the older girl's gaze.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked, curious.

"This…bubble! Where it's just you and me and we pretend like you didn't get ra- attacked." Spencer finished carefully, catching herself before saying the "R" word.

Aria stood up, suddenly feeling suffocated with Spencer's arm around her. Her breathing sped up and Aria began to pace the living room. Something about Spencer almost say…rape was really messing with her head.

"I know that Spencer." Aria snapped.

"Look, it's great the Hanna and Emily are coming over tonight and I am so proud of you for telling them. But eventually, your parents are going to come back and so are mine." Spencer reminded her softly.

"I thought we were going to take this slow Spence! I don't want to tell anyone else, you and Hanna and Emily are all the family I need!" Aria shouted, quickly losing a battle for control with her emotions.

"I didn't ask for this! I don't want this; I don't want to live like this anymore!" Aria screamed, tears now cascading down her face.

Spencer made a move to get up and gather the smaller girl in her arms, who looked as if she'd break at any moment. When she saw Aria start shaking and trying to calm herself down, she restrained herself, knowing that her girlfriend needed to able to save herself sometimes too.

"I don't want to have anymore meltdowns or freak outs. I don't want the constant urge to flinch and run away from everything." Aria finished more calmly as tears continued to pour out of her eyes.

"Baby this part doesn't last forever. I know you didn't ask for it and you've done nothing to deserve this but it happened and we can't take it back. All we can do is get through this." Spencer said lovingly, getting up off the couch and taking one of Aria's hands in her own.

"Together." Aria whispered.

* * *

><p>Hanna and Emily were back at their house packing for the sleepover that night. A strange silence fell over the pair. Very rarely was their silence, considering how talkative Hanna could be. Emily was trying pack but she couldn't seem to get all of her things into one bag. She tried and tried but she couldn't fit it in. The tan girl became frustrated very quickly with the simple task, the stress of the past 2 days hitting her with full force. Suddenly Emily's head was swimming, her best friend Aria had been raped, she was in love with her other best friend Hanna and there was nothing she could do about either of the two things.<p>

Emily tensed as she felt a pair of soft arms encircle her waist and felt Hanna's chin on her left shoulder.

"It's okay Em, calm down." The blonde girl whispered soothingly.

"What's okay Hanna? Nothing is okay!" Emily cried, tears silently beginning to fall from her eyes.

"Emily I know that this is hard for you, it's hard on all of us but don't you think Aria would want you to be strong? Don't let this get you down okay? We'll get her through this, I know we will." Hanna said encouragingly as she gently wiped the tears from Emily's cheek.

Emily was suddenly aware of the close proximity between them. She could smell Hanna's sweet perfume and the minty scent of her toothpaste. She was suddenly aware of how relaxed she felt with Hanna's arms around her and how close the blonde's lips were. Taking the risk, Emily closed the short distance between them. Hanna melted into the kiss and eagerly kissed Emily back. Emily depend the kiss, turning around and wrapping her arms around the shorter girl's waist. Hanna froze and gingerly pushed Emily away.

"Emily I-"Hanna began softly.

Emily cut her off by running out of the room and leaving Hanna alone with a shocked expression on her face.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Emily returned to their house. The tan girls walked right past Hanna on the stairs, grabbed her bags for the sleepover and slowly trudged back down the stairs.<p>

"Em I was hoping we could talk about-"Hanna started to ask.

"Ready to go?" Emily cut her off in a tight voice.

Hanna only nodded before walking behind Emily and into the passenger's seat of the car. A silence took over the car, much like the one that had filled their bedroom. Hanna played absently with the radio while Emily kept her eyes glued to the road.

"Okay this is bullshit. First you kiss me and then you run away and now you won't even talk to me." Hanna states angrily.

Emily let out a sigh "I don't want to talk about this, pretend it didn't happen."

"What if I don't want to?" Hanna asked, vulnerability clear in her voice.

Emily's eyes snapped over to Hanna at once, looking for any sign that the other girl might be joking. She studied her face, finding nothing but genuine emotions and said "I…really?" Emily asked hopefully.

"Yes. Emily you're my best friend, my go to girl, my roommate and so much more than that. I love you as a friend and I'm really starting to fall for you too. That kiss was amazing and I don't want to forget about it just because you're scared. I'm sorry I pushed you away, I get that may have confused you but I wanted you to know that I like you." Hanna stated fiercely, the honesty clear in her voice.

"You have no idea how long I've dreamed you'd say that." Emily said gleefully. She leaned over to kiss Hanna but was stopped by a car horn and an angry shout to "watch the road!"

The two girls giggled and Hanna intertwined their hands and rested them on the console of the car.

"Hanna Marin, will you be my girlfriend?" Emily asked playfully.

"Hmmm" Hanna pretended to think it over.

"I'm offended!" Emily scoffed.

Hanna laughed and gave Emily's hand a squeeze "It would be an honor Ms. Fields."

Not much later the new couple pulled into the Hastings's driveway. Hanna moved to get out of the car only to be stopped by Emily.

"Wait, should we tell them?" Emily asked carefully.

"Why wouldn't we? They're dating each other." Hanna asked confused.

"Do you really think Aria needs this right now?" Emily asked, worried.

"Em this is good news! I defiantly think Aria needs some of that right now." Hanna says, flashing Emily that gorgeous smile she loves.

"Alright, we'll tell them." Emily concedes unable to resist Hanna's smile.

"Yay!" Hanna squealed as she raced up the sidewalk and up to the front door. Emily playfully rolled her eyes and got out of the car, gathered their stuff and joined Hanna at the door.

A few seconds later Spencer appeared at the door.

"Hey guys, come on in." Spencer welcomed warmly.

"How is she?" Hanna asked.

Emily locked eyes with Spencer as if trying to tell her that Hanna didn't know Aria had run away or that she had gone out and brought her back.

"She's doing better, still a work in progress. Still a lot of break downs but we're making progress." Spencer said slowly, keeping her eyes locked on Emily.

"We wanted to tell you guys something. You and Aria." Hanna said excitedly, taking both Spencer and Emily's hands and dragging them into the living room where they found Aria asleep on the couch.

"ARIA! Time to wake up!" Hanna yelled to her playfully, shaking the smaller girl awake.

Spencer shot daggers at Hanna for waking Aria up. Emily put a comforting hand on Spencer's back.

"Sorry, she's just really excited." Emily apologized.

"It's fine. She just better not wake up my girlfriend again." Spencer said, relaxing.

"Wha...Hanna? What time is it? Where's Spencer?" Aria asked, her tone taking a slightly panicked edge towards the end.

"I'm right here baby. Are you okay?" Spencer asked, her eyes looking Aria up and down for any signs of panic or distress, ready to intervene.

"I- yeah I'm okay. I just thought you left." Aria murmured, suddenly finding the couch very interesting.

Spencer let out a quiet laugh "I'll never leave you. You should know that by now."

Spencer crossed the room and sat down on the couch, gently pulling Aria into her side and smiling when Aria slowly wrapped her arms around the taller girl's waist.

"So Emily and I have some news to kick off our sleep over. We're dating!" Hanna said excitedly.

Aria and Spencer's eyes widened in shock. Aria recovered first "Wow that's amazing! I'm so happy for you guys! We can go on double dates!" Aria said excitedly, getting up to hug Hanna and Emily. She hugged Hanna first, tensing slightly when Hanna pulled her tight which did not go unnoticed by Spencer. Emily locked eyes with Spencer before pulling Aria into a loose hug which caused the small girl to remain tense, no matter how hard Aria tried to hide it. The small girl quickly retreated back to her seat next to Spencer.

"Wow guys that's awesome. Congratulations. I'm happy for you guys." Spencer said genuinely. The tall brunette got up and hugged both girls tightly before rejoining her Aria on the couch.

"Thank you. Both of you, it means the world to have your support." Emily said with a smile. She pulled Hanna down next to her on the couch opposite the other couple, intertwining her fingers with Hanna's.

"Okay, now let's get this party started!" Hanna cheered.

**Okay, so that's part 1 of the sleepover. Part 2 should be up pretty quickly, depending on if you liked part 1 haha. Sorry there wasn't too much Aria and Spencer, but I'll put a lot of fluff in there for them next chapter. So there you have it, Emily and Hanna got together. For the sake of this story, we're pretending Hanna and Caleb already broke up and Maya just never happened. Thanks for reading my story and please leave a review of what you liked or would like to see. Anyways, please review and thanks for reading. More Hanna and Emily? Or less?**


	10. Chapter 10

The girls spread out in Spencer's living room watching old bad chick flicks like they used to. Hanna was resting comfortably on Emily's lap and Emily had wrapped her arms around her new girlfriend's waist. The couple was surprised at how easily they had gotten used to the more intimate touching. Aria was seated on Spencer's lap but not quite as comfortably, her posture was tense. Spencer wasn't really watching the movie, but more watching Aria. She knew something was making her girlfriend uncomfortable and she was pretty sure it wasn't her.

The movie was coming to a close as a sex scene between the leading man and his leading lady started. The couple in the movie was talking to each other, saying they liked it rough.

Aria jumped off of Spencer and ran to the bathroom before kneeling in front of the toilet and throwing up.

"Damn it, I should've remembered that scene was in there." Emily whispered worriedly.

Spencer raced after her girlfriend. She shouldn't have let the scene stay on; she should've known something like that would upset Aria.

"Aria? Baby are you okay?" Spencer asked frantically.

The younger girl was unable to answer and she leaned back over the toilet bowl and continued to wretch violently. Spencer kneeled down beside Aria and pulled her hair back. The taller girl began rubbing soothing circles on her back and fought back tears as she felt the muscles in Aria's stomach continue to clench painfully.

Not too much later, Aria finally finished emptying the contents of her stomach and sat back. Spencer stood up and got a cool wash cloth and gently wiped her girlfriend's mouth. Aria mumbled quiet thanks before moving to get up.

"Oh no, I think you better let me help you." Spencer said quickly and moved to support her girlfriend.

"I'm fine Spence, let's just go back and watch the movie." Aria muttered back, not quite meeting Spencer's intense gaze.

"Like hell you're fine! I thought we were done pretending." Spencer shouted, getting frustrated watching her girlfriend retreat back into herself.

Hearing Spencer start yelling at Aria, Hanna and Emily took off in the direction of the bathroom. They'd assumed Aria would only want Spencer there to make her feel better so the couple had anxiously waited in the living room. Emily walked into the bathroom to see Aria wincing, her face pale and her eyes glassy and Spencer looked both angry and frustrated. Clearly the girls needed a break from each other.

"Hanna, why don't you go help Spencer go order pizza and I'll go with Aria upstairs so she can brush her teeth." Emily suggested quickly.

"What? No! Aria and I were-"Spencer began to argue. She knew that Aria was upset but she just wanted the girl to open to her.

"Sure, Come on Spencer." Hanna agreed, tugging Spencer out of the bathroom and making her way into the kitchen.

Once the two were seated in the kitchen Spencer let out a calming sigh.

"We're not actually here to order pizza, are we?" Spencer asked knowingly.

"Of course not." Hanna laughed.

"We're here because you and Aria need a break from each other, even if it is only for like 10 minutes." Hanna said more seriously.

"A break from each other? That's ridiculous, Aria and I are fine." Spencer retorted.

"Yeah for now! But if you keep yelling and smothering her and she keeps snapping at you and shutting you out, you guys won't be 'fine' much longer" Hanna responded.

Spencer let out a stressed sigh; she knew Hanna was right; things had been pretty tense between the two of them lately.

"What can I do Hanna? The girl I love got raped. I've read a million books, seen documentaries, I know more than most people know and still nothing has prepared me for this. I feel completely helpless." Spencer vented, tears leaking out of her eyes near the end.

"Oh Spencer." Hanna said sadly as she pulled her tall friend into a tight hug. The blonde girl rubbed her hands up and down Spencer's back as the girl began to shake and more tears fell from her eyes.

"It's gonna be okay Spence. You'll get through this, you and Aria together. There is nothing the two of you can't do as long as you have each other." Hanna comforted

"I just don't know what to do anymore! She won't tell me what she's thinking or feeling. She won't open up to me and it is so god _damn_ frustrating!" Spencer cried.

"I know that this is hard for you, really I do. But you need give Aria a little space. This is just as hard for her and you have to understand, I seriously doubt _she_ even knows what she's thinking or feeling sometimes. It'll take a while to get her back but the old happy 'wears her heart on her sleeve with you' Aria, but she is still in there." Hanna said, wiping the tears from Spencer's eyes.

"Thanks Han, you're an amazing friend and I really needed that." Spencer sniffled.

"Anytime. Now I'm starving! Let's order." Hanna said with a grin.

* * *

><p>"Are you okay to walk?" Emily asked cautiously.<p>

"I'm fine Em." Aria said in a monotone.

Emily nodded. She took Aria's hand and gently pulled her up the stairs, mindful that the girl was still heavily bruised and quite sore. She continued to pull Aria up the stairs until they reached Spencer's bedroom.

"Sit." Emily ordered sternly.

Aria obliged, sitting tensely on the bed and her eyes seem miles away. Emily sat down next to her, earning Aria's attention.

"Look Aria, I know how overbearing Spencer can be at times. I completely understand that this is hard for you and Spencer smothering you just makes it worse. But you have to understand, this is hard on Spencer too." Emily began. She intertwined her fingers through the shorter girl's.

"I just wish she didn't always want to know what I'm thinking." Aria whispered.

"My head is a mess. A totally and complete disaster and so are my emotions. The tiniest things set me off, sex scenes in freaking movies give me panic attacks so bad, that I throw up! It's just not fair Emily! What did I do to E-Ezra to make him h-hate me so much?" Aria begged to know as she let out a strangled sob.

Emily's heart broke for the girl; she too wondered how one man could be so evil and ruin someone's life like this.

"Look Ar, it won't be easy but you will get through this. Things will get easier, never normal, but they will get better. The part that you don't seem to understand is that you need our help! You need to let us help you. I get that physical contact is hard right now and I understand that you don't want Spencer to look at you differently or treat you like you're made of glass but she loves you! And she's terrified of loosing you." Emily explained.

"I'm not saying she gets to be your mom, but it wouldn't hurt to let her in, let your guard down, okay?" Emily finished.

"Thank you. And I'll try." Aria whispered, slowly pulling Emily into a loose hug. When both girls had pulled back Aria gave Emily a devilish grin.

"So you have to tell me everything about how you and Hanna got together."

Emily let out a laugh and stood up pulling Aria with her.

"Come on, let's go downstairs. I'm sure our girlfriends miss us." Emily said, winking at Aria.

Emily helped the younger girl down the stairs without too much complaining and the two joined their girlfriends in the kitchen. A silence fell over the group as Emily sat down next to Hanna and Aria joined Spencer.

"Okay well, obviously you two need to talk so we'll be…somewhere else." Hanna said with her usually cheery voice.

"Always the discreet one aren't you?" Emily asked sarcastically.

Hanna left and pulled Emily into the living room.

Once again an uncomfortable silence fell over the couple. The pain of being close enough to each other that they could feel the other's body heat but not having any kind of contact seemed to be killing both of them.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." Spencer apologized, breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry I freaked out." Aria apologized sincerely.

"Aria, baby you don't ever have to be sorry about that." Spencer reminded her sternly.

Aria nodded "Then I'm sorry that I haven't been letting you in. I know it's driving you crazy" She said quietly.

Spencer sigh "I know that it's hard for you especially after what happened for you to let someone in. Ezra was your boyfriend at one point, he was supposed to love you and never hurt you and hurt you is exactly what he did, in the worst way possible. And there's nothing we can do to take that back but I need you to trust me."

"I do trust you Spence! I trust you with my life. But my head and my emotions are so messed up right now that I'm all over the place and I don't want to put any more stress on you." Aria said shyly.

"Aria I _want_ to know all that stuff. I don't care if it doesn't make any sense at all, if it's hurting you I want to know about it okay?" Spencer asked.

"Okay, I'll try to be better about opening up to you." Aria promised.

"And I'll try to give you a little more space, maybe not push you so hard." Spencer vowed in return.

The two girls hugged and for once Aria didn't tense up. Aria leaned towards Spencer and placed a chaste kiss on her girlfriend's lips.

"You're so beautiful Spencer." Aria whispered.

"Oh please babe, you're the most gorgeous girl on the planet." Spencer murmured back, wrapping her arms around Aria's waist.

"I love you Spencer. Always and forever." Aria said, tears leaking out of her eyes.

"Aria, honey I love you too. Why are you crying?" Spencer asked gently, as she wiped the tears softly out of her girlfriend's eyes.

"B-because I'm so lucky to h-have you!" Aria cried.

Spencer laughed "So these are happy tears?" The older girl clarified.

Aria just nodded and pressed her lips gently back to Spencer's. Aria wrapped her arms around Spencer's neck and tangled her fingers in the taller girl's long hair. Spencer let out a soft moan and pressed her body gently against Aria's. The two girls stayed like that until the need for air become overwhelming. When they pulled apart, the two girls rested their foreheads together breathing heavily.

"So…you guys want to watch a different movie?" Emily asked awkwardly.

Startled, the two girls jumped apart and Hanna laughed softly from Emily's side.

Spencer cleared her throat "Yeah sure, sounds good."

"Geez Em, could you have had worse timing?" Aria asked in faux annoyance.

All four girls let out a laugh and piled into the living room to watch another movie together. Throughout the movie the girls told jokes and stories and lightly teased each other. The night was filled with laughs and pizza. From then on and everyone seemed to forget about drama for the rest of that night and just enjoyed each other's company, not knowing how long the peace would last.

**Aww well there you go. Part 2 of the sleepover. I thought that was pretty cute. Anyways, would you like more fluffy Sparia? Less or more Hanna/Emily? Ready for the parents to come back or –A to find out? Please review and tell what you liked and would like to see. Thanks for reading my story and please review! **


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning Hanna and Emily went home sometime around 10. Spencer and Aria had woken up not much longer after that and were currently watching TV in Spencer's room. Aria had suggested moving downstairs but Spencer voted against it, not wanting her girlfriend to put any unnecessary stress on her body. The attack had been a week ago but Spencer being Spencer wanted to be extra careful. The bruises were turning yellow, a good sign but the shorter brunette still walked with a limp much to the concern of Spencer.

"Spencer? Spencer!" Aria shouted.

"Wha- What?" Spencer asked, confused.

"I've been trying to talk to you for the past like 5 minutes." Aria murmured, pouting playfully.

"Sorry babe, I was just thinking." Spencer said, kissing Aria's cheek.

A peaceful silence fell over the couple. Needless to say, neither girl was actually watching the television but were lost in a thought.

The shorter brunette was wrapped up in her girlfriend's arms feeling safe. Spencer felt at peace having Aria in her arms; she made sure not to hold her too tight so that her girlfriend didn't feel trapped. Spencer was mindlessly running her fingers through Aria's silky, soft dark locks.

"Spencer…I want to ask you something." Aria said nervously.

Hearing the hesitance in her girlfriend's voice, Spencer sat up and looked over at Aria, giving her full attention.

"Go on." Spencer encouraged.

"I want to try…stuff. Like we used to." Aria asked, embarrassment clear on her face as a faint blush covered her cheeks.

"Well what kind of stuff do you mean Aria?" Spencer asked, confused.

Aria blushed a deeper red and leaned forward, pulling Spencer into a kiss. She wrapped her arm around Spencer's neck and kissed her girlfriend with more passion than she thought was possible, desperately trying to show Spencer what she meant. The older brunette, who had been beyond confused, suddenly became incredibly aware of what Aria meant. She pulled away quickly.

"Aria, I don't think this is a good idea." Spencer said sternly, making a little distance between the pair.

Aria's eyes will filled with hurt and she refused to meet Spencer's piercing gaze.

"Spencer I'm fine okay? It's been a week, when are you going to trust me to know how I feel?" Aria asked, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice.

"It's not that I don't trust you to know how you feel, I just don't think you're ready." Spencer said honestly. She loved Aria, but she also knew her girlfriend just wasn't ready and pushing herself would just make things worse.

"Spencer I know how I feel okay? I'm ready. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have asked you." Aria snapped back.

"Really? Because communication hasn't exactly been your forte lately" Spencer snapped. She knew Aria would never actually admit to her that she was scared to be with Spencer that way.

"Of course! But I know how I feel and I'm ready. So I want to try this." Aria said heatedly, becoming frustrated with Spencer not wanting to see her point.

"Aria a week is not enough time to get over the emotional trauma of being raped." Spencer said fiercely.

Aria flinched violently at the word, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

"See? I can't even say the word without you flinching and you honestly think that you're ready to be intimate with me? You're going to get flashbacks Aria. Flashbacks of things I don't ever want you to think about when you're with me." Spencer stated, she was trying to get Aria to see her point. She didn't even need to get into the fact that she could physically hurt her girlfriend who was still not physically in the clear. Spencer was still kicking herself for not taking her to a doctor.

Aria knew that her girlfriend had a point but she hadn't really had many flashbacks yet. Sure some things reminded her of the attack and certain things set her off but as far as flashbacks go she hadn't really had too many of those yet. She loved Spencer and her girlfriend made her feel safe so why would she get flashbacks?

"Spencer I see your point, I do. But this isn't your decision to make." Aria argued.

"Like _hell_ it isn't my decision! Aria I am your girlfriend! This is just as much my decision as it is yours! If I don't want to be intimate with you, _for your safety _that is absolutely my decision!" Spencer yelled, furious.

"You aren't the one in any danger of remembering things that I've spent the past week trying to forget. All you have to do is kiss me! It'll be like the…thing never happened. Why is that so hard for you Spencer?" Aria asked, livid.

"Aria I refuse to sit idly by and watch you suffer, you know that. And now you honestly think that I'm going to do anything that would gamble with your mental and physical health! Who do you think I am?" Spencer asked angrily.

Aria was so angry that she wanted to punch something. She knew she wasn't actually mad at Spencer, more herself. The frustration she was feeling was overwhelming. She wanted things to go back to the way that they were. The shorter girl knew that Spencer was just looking out for her and was actually right.

Taking a deep breath, Aria addressed her girlfriend again.

"I don't want to fight with you Spencer." Aria said quietly.

"Baby I don't want to fight either, but you have to understand I won't do something that puts you in danger. Ever." Spencer said, closing the distance between her and her tense girlfriend.

"I know." Aria sighed.

"I know that wasn't fair for me to ask that from you." Aria whispered as she wrapped her arms around the taller girl's waist.

"I know that this sucks now but things will get easier, I promise." Spencer murmured into Aria's hair.

Spencer wrapped her arms around Aria's waist, making sure there wasn't any distance between herself and the love of her life. The taller girl slowly leaned down and gently pressed her lips to Aria's the shorter girl was caught off guard but nonetheless melted into the kiss. Letting out a soft moan, Aria kissed Spencer back, tangling her fingers through her girlfriend's soft brunette hair. Spencer broke the kiss and picked Aria up and carried her over to her bed. Aria let of a squeal of surprise, causing Spencer to smirk.

Spencer gently laid Aria down on the bed and kissed her forehead.

"How's that for a romantic gesture?" Spencer asked playfully.

"It was perfect. And very unexpected, how'd you lift me?" Aria asked, out of breath.

"You're kidding me right? You weigh like 5 pounds." Spencer laughed.

"Hey! That's not true." Aria denied, playfully pushing Spencer.

"It's true. But don't worry babe, I love you." The taller girl said with a smile.

"And I love you too." Aria vowed in return.

The moment between the two was interrupted by the shrill ring of the phone. With a groan and an apologetic look to her girlfriend, Spencer got up and answered it.

"Hastings's residence." Spencer greeted the mystery person on the other end.

"I…yeah" Spencer stuttered.

Silence

"Yes I know. I'm sorry. We'll be back Monday." Spencer promised the other person.

Silence

"Yes, we're aware. I'll pass along the message. "Spencer said sounding annoyed.

"You too, goodbye." Spencer said with a huff, hanging up the phone.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Aria asked, getting up off the bed and limping over to where her girlfriend now stood.

"That was the school. They aren't too happy with how we've both missed a week of school. If we don't go back tomorrow they're going to call our parents. I'm supposed to pass along the message since they couldn't get in touch with you." Spencer told her girlfriend regretfully.

"Well, we knew I'd have to go back eventually." Aria sigh, putting on a brave face.

The truth was, Aria was terrified to go back to Rosewood High. She'd have to see all of her classmates, the male ones. Not to mention they'd see her. It was going to take a lot of makeup to cover these bruises. Aria had been so lost in thought that she didn't notice that she was shaking hear Spencer calling her name.

"ARIA!" Spencer yelled, grabbing her girlfriend's arm.

Aria snapped out of her daze and looked over.

"Yeah Spence?" She asked.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked carefully.

"As okay as can be expected." The shorter girl answered with a fake smile.

Spencer nodded, not believing her girlfriend.

"Well, I'm going to go shower." Aria said happily, trying to keep Spencer from worrying about her.

Again Spencer just nodded and Aria walked off into the bathroom and locked the door.

As soon as she heard water running, she took out her phone and called Hanna and Emily.

"Hey Spence." Hanna answered.

"Han, is Emily with you?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, she's right next to me." Hanna responded with a giggle.

"Good, put me on speaker." Spencer requested.

Spencer then told the other two girls about how she and Aria needed to return to school the next day or their parents would be involved and they'd have to explain the situation before Aria was ready to. The three girls made a plan to stay with Aria as much of the day as possible. There was a very slim chance of seeing Ezra, as he now worked at Hollis but Aria hadn't even seen a boy, much less been near several since the attack and all of the girls were worried.

"Spence it's gonna be okay. We'll look out for Aria. We love her too y'know." Hanna promised.

"Yeah, I have a lot of classes with her and I'm not going to let anything happen okay?' Emily said, trying to reassure Spencer.

"I know." Spencer sighed. "Just text me throughout the day? Just for my peace of mind."

"Of course. And you'll have lunch and English together. Aria will be fine." Emily promised.

"Yeah I have social studies and chem with Aria so she'll only be alone for like one class." Hanna said.

"You're right. Thanks guys, you're the best." Spencer thanked her best friends.

"You don't need to thank us, we love you and Aria." Emily reminded her playfully.

"Alright, well Em and I are gonna go make out. See you at school." Hanna said bluntly.

"Han!" Emily scolded.

"What?" Hanna asked innocently "Do you not want to?"

Spencer laughed at how cute her friends were together. She really was happy for them. Spencer heard the water turn off and she walked back into her bedroom to wait for Aria, feeling a familiar sense of déjà vu.

Spencer sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p><strong>Well there you go, the next chapter. Back to school, a twist! Wish the girls luck. Sorry it took a whole week to write, my thoughts are a little jumbled right now, lot on my mind. Anyways, my votes on more Hannily vs less Hannily were pretty split so I'll add a lot next chapter as this one didn't have hardly any. I added a little more fluffy to Sparia after their fight but I think if on the show Spencer and Aria were to date, they would fight a lot as their personalities are so different so I try to portray that. Thanks for reading and please review, what you liked or would like to see moreless of. Thanks for reading. **


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning came faster than any of the girls were ready for. Aria and Spencer hadn't really talked much more the previous night and Spencer thought it would be a better idea to not tell Aria that she and the other girls would be watching out for her. Hanna and Emily weren't especially looking forward to school because it would stress Aria out but also they wouldn't get to make out and cuddle all day.

Emily was currently pacing around Hanna's bedroom. Hanna then walked into the room having just finished getting dressed. She was in a cute casual red dress with a matching pair of heels and cute earrings.

"This is not the day to distract me Han." Emily groaned, walking over to her girlfriend and giving her a hungry yet gentle kiss on the lips.

Hanna smiled and kissed Emily back, wrapping her arms around the swimmer's waist.

"I think _every day _is the day to distract you." Hanna whispered in Emily's ear, pulling away from her girlfriend with a giggle.

"Tease." Emily murmured with a cute pout.

"Awww. I'll make it up to you later gorgeous." Hanna promised with a flirty wink.

Emily laughed "Wow you got my mind off Aria for a whole 5 minutes."

"Hmmm, Aria on the mind. Should I be jealous?" Hanna asked playfully.

"I'm serious Han; I'm really worried about her. She can barley handle us touching her. I really don't think being in a room full of people she doesn't trust is going to help her recovery." Emily said, voicing her concern.

"I know, I'm worried too. But she's got us and Spencer okay? She'll be fine. We won't let anything happen to her." Hanna promised, hoping to ease her girlfriend's worry.

Emily smiled.

"You always know exactly what to say to me." Emily commented, pulling Hanna close for a sweet kiss.

"Hanna I'm leave- whoa." Ashley Marin said as she walked into her daughter's room to find her kissing her best friend/roommate.

"Mom!" Hanna squeaked.

"What's…going on here?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well Mom, the truth is…Emily is my girlfriend." Hanna admitted hesitantly.

Emily smiled and intertwined Hanna's fingers through her own, hoping to reassure her girlfriend.

"I see. And how long has this been going on?" Ashley interrogated the girls.

"Not long, we got together 2 days ago." Emily answered quickly.

"Right. And were you ever planning on telling me?" Ashley asked, a little hurt.

"Of course! The only people that know are Aria and Spencer and we told them yesterday. We were going to tell you when the time was right." Hanna answered, not look quite looking her mother in the eyes.

"Okay, well you two need to get to school and I have to go to work. We'll discuss some new house rules when we get home." Ashley said with a smile.

The two girls nodded and Ashley turned to leave.

"Oh and girls? I'm happy for both of you. Take good care of each other." Ashley said.

The two girls smiled ear to ear and nodded, thanking Hanna's mom.

"Wow that went well." Hanna commented, hugging Emily.

"Yeah it did. It means a lot to have your mother's support." Emily commented, hugging her blonde girlfriend back tightly.

When the couple pulled apart, Hanna looked the clock.

"Shit! We have to go or we'll be late." Hanna said quickly gathering up her stuff and racing downstairs with Emily right behind her.

* * *

><p>"Aria are you ready yet?" Spencer called from down the hall.<p>

Aria didn't answer. She was lost inside her own head. Today she'd have to go back to school. To a place with hundreds of kids she didn't trust and someone other than Spencer might touch her. Aria shuddered at the thought.

Currently, the short brunette was seated in front of Spencer's mirror trying to put on enough makeup to cover up her yellowing bruises. Her outfit was simple and modest. She wore dark skinny jeans and a long sleeved purple top with a black best with heels. She mostly wore this to cover up her bruises but she looked cute too.

"Ar?" Spencer asked, walking into the room.

"What if someone sees?" Aria asked, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Oh sweetie, no one will notice okay? All anyone will see is a beautiful, strong, sweet, intelligent, beautiful amazing girl." Spencer promised.

"That's what I see." Spencer whispered, pushing a lock of Aria's hair behind her ear.

Aria took a shaky breath and finished applying her makeup in silence. When she finished, she and Spencer picked up their backpacks and walked downstairs into the kitchen. Spencer had offered to help her girlfriend down the stairs as she still walked with a limp but the shorter girl had declined.

"What do you want for breakfast Ar?" Spencer asked.

"Nothing Spence, I'm too nervous to eat." The younger girl said quietly.

"Baby…"Spencer began.

"Not today Spencer, please?" Aria begged, wanting to skip the lecture this morning.

Spencer nodded, taking Aria's hand and leading her to the car. Spencer opened Aria's door and walked over to the driver's seat. Both girls sat in silence as Spencer drove them to Rosewood High. Not a word was spoken throughout the entire car ride. Aria was lost in her thoughts, mentally bracing herself and Spencer was too. As the couple pulled into the parking lot, both girls took a deep breath before getting out of the car and meeting Emily and Hanna in the front of the school. Aria stood close to Spencer.

"Hey guys." Emily greeted, breaking the obvious tension

"Hey Em." Spencer said back, her greeting sounding forced.

Aria nodded.

"Come on Aria, I'll walk you to your locker." Hanna said, taking Aria's hand and tugging her along without giving her time to respond.

"Han-"Spencer began.

"Let her go." Emily cut her off.

Spencer looked at Emily with a shocked expression, ready to argue.

"Aria and Hanna haven't had a lot of time alone together since this whole thing started. I've only had maybe an hour or two with just me and Aria. They're best friends too and they need to hang out. I know you're worried but Hanna is perfectly capable of taking care of Aria. And they're only walking to her locker." Emily gently reminded Spencer.

"I know but I don't like her this far away from me." Spencer grumbled.

Emily rolled her eyes

"Come on, let's go to class."

* * *

><p>Without any major freak outs, Aria and the girls had successfully made it to lunch. Aria's makeup was still flawless and she and Spencer had gotten by with the excuse that they had given each other the flu. They were currently seated at their table, Sparia on one side and Hannily on the other. Spencer and Hanna were having a half hearted conversation about clothes and Emily was quietly watching Aria pick at her food without really eating it. The young brunette's posture was tense and her hands were shaking so slightly that if you weren't looking you wouldn't notice it.<p>

Morning classes was the longest time she'd gone without Spencer all week and it was weird for Aria not having her girlfriend around to hold her hand and make her feel better whenever she had a mini freak out.

"Do you want to hang out after school?" Emily asked Aria quietly, so the other two girls wouldn't hear.

Aria's head snapped up. She hadn't really said a whole lot that day and wasn't aware that Emily was watching her. Aria was a little worried Spencer would be mad if she hung out with Emily.

Emily sensing her friend's hesitation smiled.

"I can handle mama bear. We'll do something fun, just you and me. Like old times." Emily coaxed.

"You had me at old times." Aria said with a smile.

Soon the bell rang for lunch and Aria and Hanna went to chem while Spencer and Emily went to history class. Emily decided to clear her plans with Aria.

"So Spence, I'm hanging with Aria after school." Emily said, strongly.

Spencer froze.

"What?" Spencer asked, sure that she heard Emily incorrectly.

"Aria and I are gonna hang out, just the two of us." Emily said slowly.

"Are you insane? Why, of all days would you chose now, after one of the most stressing days of her life would you chose to take her away from me?" Spencer asked, furious.

"Because that's the problem. She's not 'yours.' I mean she's your girlfriend but she is allowed to hang out with other people. Just because she was raped doesn't make you in charge of her Spencer. She needs to get out more." Emily defended.

Spencer narrowed her eyes at Emily and stored off, furious. Emily sighed; she thought it would go better than that.

* * *

><p>"So does it ever bother you?" Hanna asked.<p>

"Does what bother me?" Aria asked, looking up from her chemistry text book.

"How overprotective Spencer is." Hanna said, locking eyes with Aria.

"Sometimes." Aria sighed.

"Come on, you gotta give me more than that." Hanna said playfully.

Aria gave her a small smile and elaborated "Well, her heart is in the right place so it's kinda hard to be mad. I mean I love her and she loves me but she takes on the 'mom' role a little more than I'd like for her too."

"Have you tried talking to her?" Hanna asked carefully.

Aria shook her head.

"This…thing that happened to me really messed with Spencer too. I know she blames herself in part for not protecting me but there's nothing she could have done and I've told her that. So if being way overprotective of me for a week or two makes her feel better, I'll let her. It's not like she'll be like this forever…right?" Aria asked, with a playful smile.

"I totally hope not!" Hanna laughed, linking arms with Aria.

* * *

><p>Tension was high when all four girls met at Aria's locker after school. As far as the girls knew, nothing bad had happened on Aria's first day back. The only class they hadn't been with her in was 6th period, and she had 7th with Spencer. The couple was currently holding hands and Spencer's other arm was around Aria's waist and she stood behind her. Aria's posture was tense and Spencer took note of it.<p>

"Aria, baby are you okay?" Spencer asked gently

"Please move." Aria begged quietly, tears were beginning to leak out of her eyes.

Spencer looked around the hallway to see a couple other students in the hall. She looked around in a panic, not moving away from Aria looking for somewhere she could take her.

"Spencer please move!" Aria asked again loudly.

This caught the attention of Hanna and Emily, who had been wrapped up in a conversation.

"Spencer, move." Hanna prodded.

Spencer shook her head.

"She won't tell me what's wrong." Spencer said, her voice tight with tension.

"Spencer you're scaring her, move!" Emily commanded.

Aria's breathing became more shallow as she struggled to gain some control over herself. Spencer released her hold on Aria and kneeled in front of her.

"Aria? I need you to calm down. You're safe with me and Hanna and Spencer. We're at school and you're okay, no one is going to hurt you." Emily said softly.

Aria's breathing settled down moments later and she let out shaky breath.

"I'm sorry Spence, you didn't do anything wrong. Just the sensation of…h-having someone b-behind me was hard." Aria choked out.

Spencer nodded in understanding.

"Alright well, why don't we get going?" Emily asked Aria, hoping to get her alone.

"Yeah alright, sounds good." Aria agreed, turning to face Spencer.

"Emily, I want her back by 6." Spencer said, still angry with the entire situation.

Emily looked like she wanted to argue but slowly nodded in agreement. Hanna looked between Spencer and her girlfriend, seeing the obvious tension, decided to intervene.

"Hey Spence, since our girlfriends are ditching us, how about we go shopping?" Hanna asked playfully.

Spencer tore her eyes away from Aria.

"Yeah, that sounds great Han." Spencer said with a small smile.

**Well there you go, the next chapter. Some Aria/Emily bonding and some Spencer/Hanna bonding. Spence and Emily are kinda fighting right now, hopefully that'll get resolved before things get messy. Thanks for reading my story. Please leave a review; they really do help with how I write. What would you like to see more/less of? I'm thinking about bringing –A into the picture in the next couple of chapters…thoughts? **


	13. Chapter 13

Emily and Aria decided to take Emily's car to the park while Spencer and Hanna would ride in Spencer's car. Spencer had been reluctant to let Aria go, and demanded her girlfriend text her when they got wherever they were going. Aria and Emily were currently sitting in the park on a bench they'd named 'their bench' because they had come there often in 7th grade.

"So do you know what you're going to do next?" Emily asked quietly, breaking the silence between the two girls

"I really don't know Em, I'm trying to take things one step at a time." Aria answered honestly.

"What about your parents?" Emily asked, gently pushing Aria to talk about the things she was sure hadn't crossed her or Spencer's mind.

"I'm not telling them." Aria said simply.

"Aria, they're your parents; they have a right to know and they can help you! I mean, maybe therapy isn't such a bad idea, you've been traumatized and you need to deal with that." Emily argued.

"Emily I don't need a therapist! I'm not crazy and I am going to be fine. Whenever I need to talk, I go to Spencer." Aria disagreed.

"Aria there is no way that you're opening up to Spencer. Remember that it's me you're talking to, I know you. I know you'd never want to talk about this with your girlfriend, especially when you told me that you had a problem with her not wanting to kiss you. So telling her how you feel about certain aspects of this just isn't going to happen for you." Emily said heatedly.

"Look if I needed to talk, I would okay? Jeez Em, relax. I'm fine, and if I'm not, I'll talk to you or one of the girls." Aria promised, hoping to soothe Emily's worry.

"But you aren't fine and you haven't been talking to anyone!" Emily said, frustrated.

"Not talking about this isn't going to ruin anyone's life Em. If I want to keep the details of the aftermath from the worst night of my life to myself, it's my choice." Aria shouted angrily. Aria was so angry with people wanting her to open up to them that she wanted to punch something.

"Don't you see Aria? This is killing you and your relationship with Spencer. You need to deal with this, talk to your parents, report Ezra." The tan girl suggested softly.

Aria's head snapped up at the last comment.

"What did you just say?" Aria asked in disbelief.

"Aria you can't let him get away with this. Spencer did the rape kit, we have proof. You wouldn't even have to see him, I-"Emily rambled, trying to convince Aria.

"This is a joke right? Em I can't report my old English teacher and _ex boyfriend _for rape! Our entire relationship might come out!" Aria shouted, shocked that Emily would even suggest something like this.

"Okay calm down Ar, it's okay. No one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do but I think it's a good idea to report this." Emily said slowly.

Aria's shoulders began to shake and her head was slowly shaking from side to side. She'd pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her head in her arms. Emily was growing worried; she wanted to reach over and comfort her obviously upset friend but was unsure how the shorter girl would respond to contact.

"Aria? Are you okay?" Emily asked, gently wrapping an arm around the brunette's shoulders.

"I can't Emily. I c-can't." Aria sobbed quietly, burying her face in the taller girl's shoulder.

Emily, shocked by the contact recovered quickly and wrapped her other arm around the shaking girl.

"Shhh, it's okay talk to me. What can't you do?" Emily asked carefully.

"I can't t-talk to Spencer. If she sees how m-messed up I am, she'll l-leave me. And I just c-can't take the idea of S-Spencer leaving me." Aria chocked out.

"Aria…Spencer is in love with you. She'd go to hell and back to be with you. She's so crazy about you that she freaked out and called me to go find you, just because you'd been gone for like an hour." Emily said with a chuckle. "She cares about you so much that I can't even describe it. If that's not love, then what is?"

"I know she loves me, but she could a-always change her mind. I bet being with Toby was easier." Aria murmured.

"I'm sure it was easy for her to be with Toby, because she didn't love him. Nothing worth having is easy Ar, you know that. She picked you, not Toby." Emily reassured.

"I guess you're right. Thanks Em." Aria sniffled, hugging the taller girl tightly.

"We don't have to talk about this now, because I did promise you some fun, but I want you to think about what I said about Ezra okay?" Emily said seriously.

Aria nodded.

"Good, now, let's go swimming in the lake!" Emily suggested excitedly.

Aria had to laugh at the innocence and excitement on Emily's face and quickly found it to be contagious as the two best friends raced towards the lake, forgetting all the drama in their lives.

* * *

><p>"Spencer would you take a breath? I seriously don't think I've seen you this tense… the math test this morning." Hanna said jokingly.<p>

"I'm sorry Han; I'm just worried about Aria. Do you think they're okay?" Spencer asked worriedly.

"Of course they're okay! Emily can watch out for Aria. It's probably a good thing you guys have some time apart, when was the last time you had fun?" Hanna asked the taller girl.

"Huh…I guess I don't remember." Spencer said with a laugh.

"Okay well, let's get the worry out of your system and see if we can get that stick out of your ass." Hanna teased.

Spencer shot her a glare of fake anger before both girls busted out laughing.

Soon both girls arrived at the mall and Spencer parked her car.

"Alright girlie, let's shop 'till we drop!" Hanna exclaimed, pulling Spencer into the first store they saw.

"What did I get myself into?" Spencer groaned, following Hanna into the store.

Hanna just laughed.

* * *

><p>After some intense shopping, Spencer had dropped Hanna off at home and was currently back at her house, waiting for Aria. Not much later Emily dropped her off and went home to see Hanna.<p>

"Hey Spence." Aria said awkwardly as she walked through the door.

"Hey, how was hanging with Emily?" Spencer asked, gently pulling Aria down on the couch next to her.

"Oh it was good, we talked and went swimming." Aria said.

"Well I'm glad you had fun." The taller girl said honestly.

"So I see you survived shopping with Han." Aria teased.

"Just barely. Lucky for me I had someone pretty important to survive for." Spencer joked.

Aria laughed with Spencer and then her face turned serious.

"Spence there is something I want to talk about. Emily brought it up today and I wanted to know what you think about it." Aria stumbled over words nervous.

"Okay, you can tell me anything." Spencer encouraged carefully, still weary of the last time Aria wanted to talk about something which resulted in a fight.

"Well she said maybe I should do s-something about…him. Like report him or something." Aria stuttered.

Spencer stayed silent.

"I just don't know how it would work, I mean they could find out everything and how we dated and about you and me and I just don't know if I can even trust any police officers and I-"Aria rambled.

"Aria, take a breath. I think it's a good idea." Spencer said calmly, wrapping her arms around her nervous girlfriend in an effort to calm her.

"You do?" Aria asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, I do. I was actually going to bring it up. I mean we have the rape kit, which is all the evidence we need and if he says that you were his 'girlfriend' when he rap- attacked you, then he goes to jail anyways for dating a student." Spencer stated logically.

"I guess that makes sense. But then my parents will find out! I have to go home soon, you're family comes back and It's just…a lot to deal with." Aria said, her breathing had become erratic.

"Calm down Aria, you're fine. Everything is fine alright?" Spencer promised.

"Sorry, I thought I was getting better." Aria murmured.

"You are, hun you are so much better than a week ago it's unbelievable, you're so strong." Spencer complimented, hugging Aria close to her.

"Okay." Aria sighed. "I'll go to the police tomorrow, after school."

"That's great babe, I'm so proud of you. I'll call the Hanna and Emily and they can go with us, for moral support. Maybe after they can sleep over." Spencer said excitedly.

"Spencer Hastings allowing a sleepover on a school night? What has the world come to?" Aria teased.

"Ha ha. You're lucky you're cute." Spencer joked.

"So…I guess we have to do homework now huh?" Aria asked sadly.

"Yeah, I guess we should. But don't worry, I'll make it fun." Spencer said with a wink.

Spencer then raced up the stairs with a wicked smile on her face, laughing as Aria pouted. Aria then got up and walked as fast as her limp would let her up the stairs and into Spencer's room where the two spent the night eating and doing homework and of course, kissing. Both girls were extremely nervous about tomorrow, but it could wait because in this moment, they were happy and together and that's all that mattered.

**Okay, so Aria is going to tell the police, wonder how that'll go… Thanks for reading and please let me know what you did like and would like to see more of. There really wasn't any Hannily in this chapter, what'd you think? I'm going to bring –A in soon, maybe within the next couple of chapters…Thoughts? Anyways, thanks for reading and please review, they make me so happy haha. **


	14. Chapter 14

Around 2 in the morning Spencer heard a sharp cry that woke her up from her sleep and had her bolt upright in bed, trying to catch her own breath. Turning to look at her girlfriend, the tall brunette found her to be thrashing around in the bed with hot tears streaming down the smaller girl's face. Whimpers, cries and muffled sobs escaped her petit lips and her arms were waving around wildly.

"Aria? Aria sweetie wake up, you're dreaming!" Spencer shouted.

It was no use, Aria continued to toss and turn and cry, reaching out to fight off thin air. Slowly, Spencer leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the terrorized girl in an effort to calm her down.

"No please! Please let me go! I'll do anything; please I'm begging you Ezra! Just stop!" Aria cried out, openly sobbing now.

The taller girl immediately let go of her traumatized girlfriend and turned the lights on in her room.

Spencer was trying to fight off her own tears now seeing and hearing her girlfriend cry and beg for someone to not rape her again. This was literally the hardest thing the older girl had ever had to watch in her life. Spencer could feel her heart breaking in her own chest and it was excruciating.

"Aria, sweetie it's me." Spencer promised softly. She gently reached out and shook the girl in her sleep, forcing her to wake up.

Aria woke up with beads of sweat on her forehead and her breathing was erratic, as if she's just run a marathon. Confused and terrified, she looked for Spencer to provide some logic and comfort for the situation.

"Are you okay Ar?" Spencer asked carefully.

Aria gulped, the dream was vividly coming back to her and suddenly the short girl's entire body tensed. She sat up straight and edged away from Spencer.

'Y-yeah." Aria gulped, barley able to form thoughts, much less words.

"Aria you're shaking." Spencer pointed out, clearly getting scared by her girlfriend's condition.

"I-I had a nightmare." Aria whispered, drawing her knees up into her chest.

"Yeah, I kinda gathered that Hun." Spencer teased, trying to lighten the mood. Or get Aria to smile, either one worked for her.

Aria gave her girlfriend a weak smile and pushed the comforter off of her, feeling trapped by it. The small girl got up and began to pace to room back and forth. Spencer sat down on her bed and watched Aria, assuming that this was a breathing technique of some kind that was used to calm the girl down during these panic attacks and nightmares. Aria continued to pace for close to 5 minutes straight without saying a word.

"Okay that's enough Ar, talk to me." Spencer the pleaded, reaching out to intertwined her fingers through the younger girl's.

A flash of hurt crossed Spencer's face before she could stop it at the way Aria had flinched away from her simple innocent touch so violently.

"Sorry." Aria mumbled.

Tears filled the short brunette's eyes; she didn't want to be afraid, especially not of Spencer.

"It's fine." Spencer assured.

"I'm still sorry." Aria whispered.

"What was your dream about?" Spencer asked carefully, changing the subject.

Aria took a deep calming breath, suddenly Emily's words came back to her, about how she needed to open up to Spencer more and trust that her girlfriend truly was only trying to help her and could in fact help her feel better about the nightmare.

Aria let out a deep sigh.

"I dreamed that I went to the police about E-Ezra and they laughed. Garrett was there and he led back into a dark room and Ez-he was back there and he d-did it again. Y-you weren't there, you'd stayed in the car. You'd left m-me." Aria explained, biting her lip so hard she thought it was going to start bleeding in a failed attempt to keep her tears at bay.

"Oh sweetie, that'll never happen. Ezra will never come near you again, and if he even thinks about looking at you, I will kick his ass." Spencer threatened.

Aria giggled and a watery smile appeared on her tear-streaked face. Just thinking about Spencer kicking Ezra's ass was funny.

Spencer finally let herself relax at seeing the smile on her beautiful girlfriend's face.

"And another that'll never happen? Me leaving you. Not in a million years." Spencer said seriously, pressing a soft kiss to Aria's temple.

"Are you okay now?" Spencer asked cautiously.

"I am now, you made everything better. You always do." Aria said, her tone was so innocent and childlike that it made Spencer smile.

"I love you Aria." Spencer stated.

"I love you too Spencer, more than you'll ever know." Aria replied, turning to face Spencer.

Their eyes locked and Aria closed the distance between herself and the love of her life. Pressing her lips on Spencer's soft ones, she leaned forward. Spencer was shocked by the sudden need for contact from Aria but complied, wrapping her arms cautiously around her fragile girlfriend's small waist. The shorter girl was ecstatic that her girlfriend hadn't pushed her away and gingerly tangled her fingers through Spencer's long, luscious chocolate colored locks. Spencer tentatively pulled Aria into her lap, diminishing any space between them. Aria slowly pushed Spencer on her back and hovered on top of her, (putting strain on her still recovering body, but it was worth it to be able to smell the amazing scent of mint, strawberry and berries that radiated off of Spencer) The couple continued to kiss until Spencer slowly flipped them over and Aria was underneath her. The older girl had been trying to take the strain off of her still partially injured girlfriend. Immediately every muscle in Aria's body tensed. Spencer immediately sat up, pushing Aria off of her and looked into her girlfriend's scared chocolate eyes, trying to read the girl.

"What happened, did you get a flashback?" Spencer asked, worried.

Aria shook herself out of terrified memory and could only nod.

"I'm so sorry; I should've stopped it before it got that far. I-"Spencer began to apologize.

"Don't apologize Spence, I wanted that." Aria said, out of breath.

"I'm the one who should apologize; I was really enjoying that too." Aria grumbled jokingly.

"Yeah, you and me both." Spencer replied honestly.

Aria smiled and pushed a lock of Spencer's messy hair behind her ear lovingly.

"What triggered it?" Spencer asked quietly.

"When we flipped over. Suddenly it wasn't you on top of me being gentle, it was him and he was hurting me." Aria answered honestly, not meeting Spencer's watchful gaze.

"Thank you for being honest with me. Now I know not to do that." Spencer muttered, ashamed that she made Aria feel that way.

"Spence, I was happy. I like kissing you and I love you. We need to keep pushing me and having more physical stuff like that so I can figure out my triggers and avoid them." Aria argued.

"Aria, it's late. We have a stressful day tomorrow. Or I guess today." Spencer joked half-heartedly. "Get some sleep; we'll talk about this tomorrow okay?"

"Promise?" Aria asked innocently.

Spencer laughed at how adorable her girlfriend was

"I promise."

* * *

><p>Hanna and Emily were in the same bed again, Ashley had to work late and went straight to bed when she got home. Hanna had her arm around her tan girlfriend's thin waist and the swimmer had her arms around Hanna's middle, pulling the blonde beauty closer to her. Hanna was tossing and turning in their bed and Emily knew the girl wasn't sleeping. She'd pretended not to notice but this was getting a little worrying. It seemed like Hanna hadn't been sleeping well for the past couple of days, now that Emily thought about it.<p>

"Han what's wrong?" Emily asked, her lips littering the blonde's collar bone with soft, gentle kisses.

"Nothing Em, sorry I woke you." Hanna said quickly, subconsciously tightening her grip on her girlfriend.

"Han, I can read you like a book." Emily pushed gently.

Silence.

"Tell me what's wrong." The swimmer asked.

Hanna sighed. "I just…I think about how easily it could've been you. Do you remember when you finally told us the real reason you broke it off with your jerk of a boyfriend Ben?"

"Yeah, of course I remember. If the girls and I hadn't stopped you, you would've tried to beat him up." Emily answered cautiously.

"Well what happened to Aria almost happened to you and that terrifies me that I could lose you like that. I can only imagine what Spencer is feeling right now. And tomorrow, they're reporting him? It's just so much to deal with for them and it scares me, how easily that could have been us." Hanna confessed.

Hot, wet tears slowly leaked out of Hanna's eyes and Emily gently kissed each one away lovingly.

"Baby you can't think like that. I'm here, you're here and we're both safe. Nothing is going to happen to us and Aria is going to be fine. I'm really proud of her for doing this and you, Spencer and I will be with her every step of the way. I'm glad she's finally getting justice for what the bastard did to her." Emily comforted, getting angry towards the end.

"You're right Em. You always know what to say." Hanna said, smiling for no reason except Emily.

"I try." Emily teased.

"Emily I love you. I know we haven't been officially together for that long but I love you and I'm sure of it. I've been in love with you for a long time, as long as I can remember. I guess I was so obsessed with Sean when I was younger because I thought he would get my mind off of you. I want to be with you forever." Hanna confessed nervously, searching Emily's eyes.

"I love you too Han. I love how funny you are and sweet. You have a heart of gold, but it takes some work to earn your trust and get to it. I love that you sing, even though you have a terrible voice but you look like a pop star so it's okay. I love you how brave you are and strong for your friends. I love how you're so beautiful and you don't even know it. God, there is so much more than that too. I want to be with you forever and ever too.

Hanna leaned over and kissed her tan girlfriend, eliminating any space between the two girls. Hanna's tongue begged for entrance into the raven-haired girl's mouth. Eagerly granting access, the two girls battled for dominance. Emily emerged victorious and hovered above Hanna on the bed, not breaking the kiss. Hanna moaned, slipping her hands under Emily's shirt she felt the girl's tight stomach and abs muscles.

"Damn Em, you got a hot body." Hanna panted, breaking their kiss.

"Thank you." Emily smirked, breathless.

"Well damn, now I'm not getting any sleep tonight." Hanna groaned.

"And why's that?" Emily questioned playfully, absently playing with a piece of Hanna's hair.

"Because I can't stop thinking about you." Hanna whispered, her sexy voice in Emily's ear, making the taller girl shiver.

"Great, now I'm not either." Emily moaned.

"But it was so worth it." Hanna smirked.

The two girls shared a look before laughing quietly, happily together.

**Hey guys! I wanted to add a little bit of fluff/comfort in there so that's why this chapter is in here. Next chapter I will be introducing –A to the story and you'll find out what happens when Aria reports Ezra to the police. Well, Spence and Aria are trying to be more fluffy, a lot of people are requesting more intimacy between these two, but understand it's only been a little more than a week since Aria got raped so this is really hard for her, but we're getting there. What did you like/would like to see? Any requests? How was the Hannily amount? Please review and tell me. Thank you for reading my story, you guys are why I love writing, so thanks **


	15. Chapter 15

As usual, the following morning came much too quickly for both couples. In the Hastings home, things were beyond stressful. Spencer's parents were coming back today and Aria was going to the police after to school to report her ex boyfriend for rape. In the Marin home things weren't much better; neither girl had gotten much sleep after their late night talk.

"Spence, time to get up." Aria whispered in her girlfriend's ear.

"Too early." Spencer grumbled, rolling over onto her side.

Aria giggled, pulling to covers off of her girlfriend and gently placing kisses along the older girl's neck.

"Damn, I want to wake up like this every morning." Spencer muttered, much more awake now.

"I'm sure you do, but we have a busy day ahead of us." Aria reminded her, getting off of Spencer and skipping into the bathroom.

"That's a little odd." Spencer thought out loud. Spencer knew that Aria had to remember what had occurred the previous night; it was a pretty intense nightmare after all. Yet Aria was pretending like the entire thing didn't happen. Was she embarrassed? Scared?

Not wanting to bring up anything to cause unnecessary stress, Spencer decided to let the subject drop and question her short girlfriend about the nightmare later. With a groan, the tall brunette pushed back the covers and got out of bed. She went down into the kitchen to make breakfast for herself and her girlfriend.

Aria walked out of the bathroom, humming softly to one of her favorite songs and checked her phone to see if Emily and Hanna were coming over soon. The four of them decided to skip the first couple class periods and go down to the police station during school, when they were certain Jenna and Noel wouldn't be there.  
>The short girl picked up her phone and saw that she had one new message, and it wasn't from Emily.<p>

**Going to the police? I don't think so. You tell on Fitz, I tell on them. **

**-A **

Attached was a picture of Hanna and Emily kissing in Em's car in Spencer's driveway. A panic flooded Aria's body. What could she do? She couldn't out her two best friends to the entire school but how was she going to explain to Spencer that she no longer wanted to go to the police?

"Hey babe, are you ready to- Aria, what's wrong?" Spencer asked, seeing the devastated look on Aria's face the older girl immediately became concerned.

"n-nothing, just my mom." Aria stuttered.

Spencer gave her a look as if to say 'come on'

"Aria, honey I love you, but that was one of the worst lies I have ever heard in my life. Did you get a text from A?" Spencer asked.

Aria sighed; she really hadn't wanted to drag her girlfriend into this but decided that lying to Spencer would just complicate everything. And besides, maybe Spencer could offer a solution.

"Yeah Spencer, it is. Basically it says that if I go to the police and report Ezra for what he did, than that bitch is going to out Hanna and Emily to the entire school." Aria said, sounding extremely stressed.

"Okay Aria breathe." Spencer coached, cross the room and wrapping her long arms around Aria's waist and pulling her into a lose, comforting embrace. Spencer smiled when she felt Aria's tense body relax into her.

"Emily is already out, so I really don't think this is going to bother her. Hanna is our main concern right now, so what I would recommend is when Emily and Han get here to go with you to the police you explain to them the situation and leave it up to them." Spencer suggested calmly, as she ran her fingers through Aria's soft hair.

Aria let out a shaky breath.

"How is that fair to Hanna? I don't want her to have to make this choice." Aria protested.

"Babe, since when is anything A does fair?" Spencer joked.

Aria giggled and turned around in her girlfriend's arms, locking hers around the taller girl's neck and pressing a soft kiss against her lips. Pulling away, Aria smiled.

"Thank you Spence, you always know exactly what to say."

"I try." Spencer smirked.

Not too much later Hanna and Emily showed up at Spencer's place.

"We have to be strong okay? For Aria." Emily said quietly, wrapping her arm around her blonde girlfriend.

"And we will be. We're gonna get her through this babe." Hanna promised, turning to Emily and wrapping her arms around the swimmer's neck.

Emily smiled and gently pressed her lips against Hanna's. The blonde smiled, tightening her grip on the tan girl and pulling her close.

"You're so beautiful Em." Hanna panted out.

Emily smiled, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl's waist. She closed the gap between their lips again. Hanna tongue ran across Emily's bottom lip, asking the other girl for admittance. Emily eagerly complied, and opened her mouth, moaning in pleasure.

"Han we have to stop." Emily panted out, pushing away from her girlfriend.

"Why's that?" Hanna asked with a smirk.

"Because I love you, but I'd rather we didn't have sex in Spencer's kitchen." Emily joked.

"Please, it's not like we won't be doing stuff in_ our_ kitchen. Spencer's kitchen is probably cleaner than my room anyway." Hanna teased.

Emily shook her head and pulled her girlfriend upstairs. The couple didn't even knock and walked in on Spencer holding Aria close to her on their bed, lightly stroking their hair.

'How is she?' Emily mouth to Spencer.

The older brunette just winced in reply.

"Hey guys, Ar, you ready to go?" Hanna asked, oblivious.

Aria shook her head.

"Han, I can't go to the police." Aria stated, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"What are you talking about? Of course we're going to the police." Emily questioned, confused. She pulled Hanna closer into her side, keeping one arm around her girlfriend's waist. Whatever was going on wasn't good, and Emily wanted to protect the blonde from it.

Spencer sat up and gave are a look as if to say 'are you crazy? This isn't the plan.' But kept her mouth shut, waiting for Aria to explain.

"A threatened my mom Han. They said if I tell on Ezra, my mom will 'disappear" Aria said shakily, tears streaming from her cheeks.

"Oh Aria, I'm so sorry." Hanna said sympathetically, breaking free of Emily's grip and pulling Aria into a hug. Of course the brunette tensed at the unexpected contact but quickly relaxed and wrapped her arms around Hanna, pulling her closer. Both Spencer and Emily smiled at the sight.

"It's going to be okay Ar, I promise." Hanna muttered.

"So what are you going to do then? If you wait any longer, they might not…believe you." Emily asked carefully.

"Yeah, Spence don't your parents get back in town today?" Hanna asked curiously, pulling away from Aria and taking a seat on the bed and motioning for Emily to do the same.

"Shit! I totally forgot about that!" Spencer groaned, dropping her head into her hands.

"It's going to be really hard to keep the rape quiet if your mom is in town Spence." Emily reminded them.

"Yeah and unless you tell your family why, they aren't going to let Aria stay here every night too." Hanna jumped in.

"Okay enough! You guys I know we have a lot to deal with but right now, talking about it is not helping. You're stressing me out and you're stressing Aria out, look at her! She's pale a ghost." Spencer yelled, releasing her frustration.

The concerned eyes of all three girls immediately went to the tiny girl. She was sitting there staring at her blanket as if it was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen. Spencer could feel her shaking and was growing more concerned by her silence than anything else. The older brunette wasn't sure how to ask her two friends to leave and give her a moment alone with her girlfriend, she wasn't sure that it would help either.

"Aria are you okay? What's wrong?" Emily asked, her concern for the small girl evident in her voice.

"I'm fine Em, just stressed okay?" Aria reassured the other girl, breaking out of her chance.

"look here what I'm going to do. I am not going to the police. I want to drop the subject unless absolutely necessary. Spence, I understand that you and Emily want me to go to the police but I can't put my mom in danger like that okay? So we're all going to drop this entire situation. As far as I'm concerned, this never happened." Aria said very calmly, as if she wasn't feeling anything at all.

Emily looked like she wanted to argue but Spence beat her to it.

"Aria, how can you forget about something as traumatic as rape? Look I understand your reasoning, while I don't agree with it, I respect it. But just because we can't go to the police doesn't mean that you can't deal with this." Spencer argued back.

"Yeah, I'm with Spence on this one. Hun you have to deal with this. Trying to forget about it is only going to make everything worse." Emily agreed.

"And I appreciate the concern, but this is my choice. And I've made it." Aria said finally.

While all three of Aria's friends wanted to argue that the girl was making a mistake and trying to suppress this was only going to lengthen the road to recovery for her. Spencer was especially worried, she'd witnessed her girlfriend in a flashback and it was literally the most heartbreaking sight she'd ever seen. All of the girls wanted to mention that there were also physical reminders of the attack, such as the light bruising, which was almost cleared up but Aria was still walking with a limp and wincing whenever she had to use stairs.

"Look I'm gonna go pack my stuff. I need to go home tonight and it's probably better if I'm not here when Spencer's parents come back." Aria said after a long period of silence.

Hanna and Emily let out sighs of displeasure, clearly unhappy with the idea of leaving Aria alone tonight. Spencer looked like someone had kicked her puppy.

"Babe, you can stay one more night. Seriously, my parents love you!" The brunette said, trying to convince her girlfriend.

Aria gave her girlfriend a sad smile.

"Thanks Spence, but I kind of want to be alone tonight. I'll call you when I'm getting ready for bed okay?" Aria promised.

Spencer nodded, not knowing what else to do. Aria's eyes looked so hollow, like they'd lost their spark and Spencer was bound and determined to get it back.

Aria finished going around from the bedroom to the bathroom and then to living room and then back again. Hanna, Emily and Spencer just sat in silence. All three of them were trying to think up any reason for Aria to stay. Spencer hated the idea of her girlfriend being alone, she knew that Aria was still terrified of A and this would be her first night alone since the attack.

"I'll walk you to your car." Spencer suggested, not giving Aria a chance to reply, she picked up Aria's bag and took her hand, leading her girlfriend gently down the stairs and out the front door.

"I love you Aria." Spencer said seriously.

"Spence, I love you too. Just because I need one night to myself, doesn't mean I love you any less okay? I think some alone time will be good for both of us." Aria said, her voice in a monotone still.

"You didn't have to lie to Hanna and Emily you know. They would have understood." Spencer said quietly.

"Spence, can we talk about this later? I need to get home and your family is going to be home soon." Aria whined.

Spencer nodded, making a note to bring it up soon.

The taller brunette leaned down and pecked Aria's lips. Aria pulled away, getting into her car and drove off. Spencer wasn't sure how long she'd been standing there, watching the place where Aria used to be. It seemed so unreal that Aria was no longer with her all the time. She'd grown accustomed to falling asleep with Aria, waking up with Aria, doing everything with Aria. It was like half of her heart was missing. It wasn't all bad though; she'd see Aria at school tomorrow.

But could she wait that long?

**Hey guys, sorry it took so long for an update. I made a law and order story I was working on and school just started back. So there was a twist, do you think Emily and Hanna are going to figure out the truth from Spence? Did Aria make the right call? Let me know what you think! I seriously love you guys for all the review! They make my day. So let me know, what you liked, didn't like, would like to see? Thanks you for reading and please review! **


	16. Chapter 16

When Aria got home that afternoon she knew that she was screwed. Her family was in Philadelphia with Mike, working with a counselor for a month session and her parents were comfortable with leaving her brother up there alone. The short brunette let out a sad sigh as she opened her front door. The entire house just felt…empty. She found herself missing Spencer like crazy and it'd only been about 10 minutes since she'd seen her last. She felt guilty about not telling her girlfriend or Hanna and Emily about her family being out of town but if she had told them, they would have insisted she stay with Spencer and then the couple would have no space from each other.

Aria was tired. Tired of having nightmares, tired of being terrified of A, tired of being a bother to Spencer, tired of being a victim. The short girl just wanted everything to go back to the way things were before her attack, when things were simple and easy.

Aria wrapped her arms around herself, was if she was holding herself together. She missed Spencer's arms around her, making her feel safe and comfortable. Not she felt nervous and on edge, just being alone in her own house. She felt her body start to shake and she sat down on her kitchen floor and cried. She cried for everything and nothing, heart wrenching sobs wracked through the girl's body so hard Aria thought that she was going to break.

"I miss my Spencer." Aria whispered brokenly out loud, wishing more than anything that the older brunette could just take her into her arms and make all the hurt go away.

* * *

><p>Spencer was nervously pacing around her bedroom. Her cell phone was in her hand and she was debating whether or not to call Aria. Hanna and Emily were sitting on her bed, watching her with worried expressions. She knew that she had to tell her best friends about the text from A. Spencer understood that Aria would be furious but she had to do something. Her family would be home within the hour so she had to tell them quick before Spencer's family arrived.<p>

"Okay Spence, stop. You're making me nervous just watching you. If you're that worried about Aria just call her." Hanna reasoned.

"Aria isn't the only reason I'm nervous." Spencer confessed, turning to look the blonde girl in the eye.

"What's going on?" Emily asked carefully.

"I need to tell you guys something. But I need both of you to promise me that you aren't going to freak out." Spencer said seriously.

Hanna and Emily stiffened; their best friend seemed so intense right now that they weren't sure the caliber of how bad this news was going to be.

"We promise Spencer. You can tell us anything." Hanna vowed.

"Okay, look Aria lied to you. When she said that she couldn't go to the police because A threatened her mom, she was lying. A threatened to out both of you to Rosewood if she went to the police about Ezra." Spencer revealed.

"Oh my god." Hanna gasped.

Emily's face mirrored Hanna's shock.

"I can't believe she did that for us." Emily said quietly.

"I can't believe you let her!" Hanna said angrily.

"Whoa, you think I'm happy about this decision? Hanna, Emily is already out. The person that this would affect the most, is you. I begged her to tell you guys, but she is stubborn Han! You know that and she wanted to protect you." Spencer explained.

"I'm sorry okay? I just hate that she didn't go to the police because of me." Hanna murmured.

Emily pulled her girlfriend into her arms, rubbing up and down her back in an effort to calm her girlfriend, who obviously felt responsible for this.

"Han you can't blame yourself okay? You know Aria wouldn't do that to you even you had told it was okay." Emily reassured her softly.

"So what now? She's not going to listen to me or Hanna about it being okay for her to go to the police and your parents should be back like within the hour which makes going to the police complicated." Emily asked.

"I really don't know." Spencer answered honestly.

"We're going to go, so that when your parents come back its just you here. But if you need to talk or anything at all, call us. Or you can come over; which ever you want to do is fine okay?" Hanna told the brunette, pulling her into a hug.

"Thanks Han." Spencer said, hugging the blonde girl back.

After Emily hugged Spencer goodbye, the couple left and then she was alone again. True to their word, Spencer's parents were back home within the hour. They'd come in, given her a hug, inspected the house and told her about their trip. She nodded and smiled and pretended to be interested but really she just wanted them to leave her alone so that she could go back up into her room and call Aria. Spencer had told her parents what they wanted to hear, that she was doing well in school and had spent the entire time that they were away studying. Her parents praised her before retiring to bed early, claiming that they were exhausted from all the travel.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Spencer darted up the stairs and picked up her phone. She dialed her girlfriend's number.

Aria picked up on the 4th ring.

"Hey Spence." Aria answered.

Spencer could tell by the slight rasp in her voice that her girlfriend had been crying and that broke her heart.

"Hey babe, everything okay?" Spencer asked, cornered.

"Y-yeah, everything is fine over here." Aria answered shortly.

"How's your family? I bet they were glad to have you back." Spencer asked, in an effort to start a conversation.

"They're great. How was your parent's trip?" Aria enquired, hoping to get off of the subject of her family.

On a long list of things that Aria Montgomery was good at, lying was at the top. Except when it came to Spencer, the younger girl was absolutely terrible at lying to her girlfriend.

Of course the taller girl caught the lie but chose to let it go.

"It was great, they had an awesome time. Do you want me to come over?" Spencer asked hurriedly.

"No! No, I mean, my parents and Mike wanted to go out tonight so..." Arias trialed off, wincing at how bad that slip up was. In reality, she wanted nothing more than Spencer to come and hold her. She really didn't feel safe at all and was on the verge of a panic attack.

"You don't want me to come over?" Spencer asked, hurt.

"No, that's not it!" Aria groaned in frustration.

"Look give me 10 minutes. I'll tell them I'm not feeling well and to go out without me okay?" Aria suggested. She really didn't want her girlfriend to find out that she was home alone but at least now she had an alibi for why they weren't home. Granted, Spencer was the smartest person she knew so there was a chance she'd figure it out but Aria would cross that bridge if and when they came to it.

"Okay, awesome because I have something to tell you and I'm not sure how you're going to take it." Spencer said nervously.

"Is everything okay? What's wrong?" Aria asked, panicking now.

"Look Aria relax okay? I'll be over in 10. I'll explain then." Spencer rushed out and then hung up the phone.

Normally, it takes 16 minutes for someone to drive from the Hastings' home to Aria Montgomery's house. Spencer had her overnight bag packed in less than three minutes and after a hurried goodbye to her parents, was gone. It took Spencer 7 minutes to get to her girlfriend's house. The tall brunette reached under the mat on the floor and picked up Aria's spare house key. She quickly opened the door and ascended up the stairs.

"Aria?" Spencer called, giving her girlfriend about a second of warning before opening the door to reveal her girlfriend sitting on the edge of her bed, her shoulders tense and her eyes still red from crying.

"Hey Spence." Aria answered her in a raspy, distant voice.

Spencer crossed the room and pulled Aria into her arms. She was little surprised that her girlfriend didn't relax immediately. It was in that moment that it fully registered to her how much she missed having Aria in her arms.

"Baby why are you crying?" Spencer asked softly.

"I'm not" Aria sniffled.

Spencer rolled her eyes and a tiny smiled graced her lips.

"Okay, why were you crying?" She rephrased.

"It's silly." Aria deflected.

"Aria nothing that makes you upset is ever going to be silly to me." Spencer said seriously.

"Why are you so sweet?" Aria asked.

Spencer smiled and tried to brush off the complement but Aria cut her off.

"No seriously, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Do you know how many people would have stayed with me when I was raped by my ex? Not that many. You're truly one in a million. You've been so kind and so patient with me and so gentle and caring and I love you for that. I love more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person." Aria finished, both girls tearing up.

"Aria that was so sweet. I love you too" Spencer whispered through her tears.

Spencer stayed the night, so caught up in how amazing she felt with Aria in that moment that she failed to notice the fact that Aria's family wasn't there nor were they coming back from dinner like they were supposed to be. Aria was so relieved to have Spencer there to calm her nerves that she completely forgot about how panicked Spencer sounded on the phone when she had to tell her something. The two girls just laid there, arms around each other, lying as close together as possible. Sure, there were things they needed to talk about and Spencer needed to tell Aria about the Hanna and Emily but it could wait until morning but they needed this. They needed this moment because they hadn't been this happy in a long, long time. In that moment, things were looking up.

**Hey! So I updated pretty quickly there, but it's a little shorter. You can kind of see Aria isn't really adjusting too well right now, she doesn't want to need Spencer all the time but obviously she still does. There really wasn't a lot of Hanna/Emily, I'll try to work on that. So anything you want to see happen? What did you like/would like to see? As always, thank you for reading and please review! They help me determine what happens next in the story. Please review, and thanks! **


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm baaaaaaack! Enjoy. **

Aria shot out of bed soaking in sweat for the second night in a row. She ran out of her bedroom as fast as her shaking legs would carry her. The brunette raced down the stairs and launched herself onto the couch, quickly turning on the lamp next to her and pulling her legs and resting her head on her knees. Aria's shoulder shook as powerful heartbreaking sobs came out.

Spencer woke up groggy. She reached over to intertwine her fingers with Aria's but found nothing there and her girlfriend missing. Suddenly more alert, the tall girl sat up. Her eyes went wide with panic as the gut-wrenching sound of Aria's sobs filled the air. Spencer raced downstairs as fast as possible to find the tear-jerking sight of her girlfriend curled into herself on the couch as if she was holding herself together to keep from breaking.

"Aria! Baby what's wrong?" Spencer asked frantically, crossing the room and scoping Aria up in her arms.

"Don't touch me!" Aria screeched struggling out of Spencer's arms and wrapping her own arms around herself protectively.

"Aria it's Spencer! Baby you're safe." Spencer coed, trying to keep her obvious distress out of her voice.

More muffled sobs filled the air and the younger girl's grip on herself only seems to tighten. Her breathing became shallow and erratic. Spencer was getting worried and felt completely helpless, how could she help her girlfriend with her oncoming panic attack if she couldn't even get near her?

"Listen to me Aria I need you to be here with me, right now in this moment. You're at your house in your living room with your girlfriend and nothing is going to hurt you." Spencer chanted softy.

Aria slowly seems to snap out of her trance. She blinked several times and tried to stop herself from shaking. The smaller girl looked up and tried to meet Spencer's worried gaze as the familiar wave of guilt crashed over her. She felt horrible for waking up her girlfriend in the middle of the night, just because she couldn't handle a bad dream.

Spencer, almost as if she could feel the guilt creep up on Aria shook her head.

"No honey don't go there. Don't ever feel bad about this. I love you and I want to be here for you," Spencer reminded her girlfriend softly.

A silence fell over the couple. Spencer was having an internal battle with herself over whether it would improve the situation to let Aria know that she had told Hanna and Emily about her lie or if it would simply make things worse for her fragile girlfriend.

"Aria there is something I need to tell you." Spencer said seriously.

Confusion and worry flooded Aria's eyes and she looked up curiously at Spencer. The taller girl sighed, she reached out and took Aria by the hand, pulling her along over to the couch and sitting down next to her. The older girl wanted nothing more than to pull her girlfriend into her arms and hold her until she felt safe again, like nothing in the world could hurt her but she also understood that the gesture would not be welcomed right now.

"I told Hanna and Emily the truth about why you won't go to the police about Ezra." Spencer confessed guiltily.

She looked over into her girlfriend's suddenly emotionless hazel eyes. She knew Aria's entire body was tense and deadly still. Spencer's eyes trailed over her girlfriend looking for any sign of emotion. For the first time over the course of their relationship, Spencer honestly had no idea what her Aria was thinking or feeling. Usually the two of them were so in synch but now she wasn't sure anymore.

"Aria please don't be mad at me, I was trying to help you. Say something." Spencer pleaded.

"You had _no right_ to do that Spencer! You knew I didn't want you to tell them! You knew that I wanted to forget about it and keep this a secret! Are you out of your mind! What the hell were you thinking!?" Aria screeched.

The shorter girl was so furious that she was shaking. Aria was aware that a lot of this was pent up anger towards Ezra but it still felt so good to release it that she didn't even care that she was lashing out at Spencer.

"Aria, babe I was trying to help you." Spencer muttered, looking down.

"Well you didn't. You just made everything 10 times worse. Now Hanna and Emily are going to pressure me into going to the police and I won't do that to Hanna." Aria yelled, getting up off the couch and pacing.

"Baby you have to understand, I was doing what is best for you. It's not healthy or safe for you to keep a secret this big. I don't think that it's going to be possible for you to move on from this until you get some kind of closure with Ezra." Spencer reasoned.

Aria took a deep breath, letting out her emotions a little bit.

"I guess you're right. I overreacted, I'm sorry." Aria said quietly.

Spencer let out a sigh of relief.

"You don't have to apologize, I understand. So we'll talk to Hanna and Em in the morning?" The taller girl questioned carefully, trying to read her girlfriend after such a sudden mood change.

Aria just nodded.

"Wow I'm shocked that we didn't wake your parents up." Spencer chuckled softly, hoping to get Aria to laugh too.

She was met with silence.

The clogs seemed to turn in Spencer's head and a question popped up that she couldn't push to the back of her mind.

"Aria where are your parents?" Spencer asked softly, getting up off of the couch and standing directly in front of her pacing girlfriend, effectively halting her movements.

Aria's legs gave out from under her and she let out a heartbreaking sob. Spencer immediately caught her, shocked that her girlfriend was letting her touch her after such a graphic nightmare.

"Gone." Aria wailed. Her tears soaking through Spencer's shirt, drenching them both. Spencer felt her heart break for her girlfriend and she was kicking herself for not noticing sooner.

"Shhh, it's gonna be okay Ar, I promise." Spencer promised soothingly. She'd never been happier to have her girlfriend safely in her arms. The taller girl just kept whispering sweet words in her ear and running her hands through the other brunette's hair and rubbing circles on her back, trying to quiet the sobs she could feel forming in the girl's throat.

The taller girl had about a million questions in her head but she knew that pushing Aria to talk would just make things worse. They'd both had a rough night and Spencer was sure that tomorrow was going to be rough too. But right now, none of that mattered. All that mattered was that Aria was going to be okay, and she needed to know that.

"Everything is going to work out, I promise." Spencer vowed.

* * *

><p>"What are we going to do?" Hanna asked.<p>

She was currently lying down on Emily's bed in the tan girl's lap. The taller girl was running her hands through her girlfriend's hair in what she hoped to be a soothing manner.

"I don't know Han, but whatever you chose, I support you." Emily reassured her girlfriend.

Emily understood how hard it was to come out. She knew that this would be so much harder for Hanna because she was still on the insecure side and she genuinely cared about what other people thought of her.

"I don't want to be the reason that Aria doesn't go to the police." Hanna said quietly, a little sniffle at the end.

The sound of Hanna beginning to cry broke Emily's heart. She didn't ever want her girlfriend to be pushed out of the closet, especially not by A and it was killing her that she couldn't do anything to protect her girlfriend from this.

"Babe you won't be. Whatever you decide, no one will blame you. If you aren't ready to come out then that's okay." Emily promised.

"I-if Aria doesn't go to the police, w-what if A outs me a-anyways? Then it was a-all for nothing." Hanna chocked out, trying desperately to force the sob back down her throat.

"Shh, Han you can't think like that." Emily said softly.

Hanna suddenly sat up, startling both of the girls. She untangled herself from Emily and hopped off of her girlfriend's bed. She determinedly wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I know what I have to do." Hanna said quietly.

"Hanna, be rational. We can think this through." Emily said cautiously. Emily knew that her Hanna was very prone to making impulsive decisions, and this one was too big to not think through.

"I have to out myself. Then I take the power away from A, Aria doesn't feel guilty and she can go to the police." Hanna said determinedly.

Emily reached out and wrapped her arms around Hanna protectively.

"Baby I am so proud of you for being that brave but you don't have to do that. Aria and Spencer and I will still love you even if you don't do this. It's okay to think about yourself, this situation could change your life." Emily murmured against Hanna's hair.

"I made up my mind." Hanna said solemnly.

Emily closed her eyes, knowing this rash decision was going to hurt Hanna in ways she couldn't even know about yet, the teasing, the rude boys, Hanna had no idea what she was getting herself into but Emily knew she couldn't talk her out of this.

Hanna broke free of Emily's protective hold and picked up her cell phone typing in a simple message to send to all her contacts.

**I am dating Emily Fields and I'm proud of it. **

"Hanna-"Emily tried to stop her before Hanna cut her off.

"No, I'm not going to be outed by A. It's simple and to the point." The beautiful blonde said finally.

After letting out a shaky breath, she pressed send.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry it's been so long guys, I've been going through a bit of a rough patch and it's been affecting my writing. But I'm back now, and I'll update sooner. My next story to update is <strong>_**Let the games begin**_** for those of you who read that. So wow a lot happened, Aria and Spencer revealed their secrets to each other and Hanna is now out as Emily's girlfriend and Emily thinks it's a terrible idea. What do you think? How will Rosewood react? Thank you so much for being patient with me and for all the review and well just for reading! Ha-ha. Anyways, please leave a review, what did you like to see or see less of? More of Hanna/Emily? Less? Thank you so much for reading my story and please leave a review! **


	18. Chapter 18

The next day on the way to school things were defiantly tense between Spencer and Aria. Spencer had about a million questions about Aria's parents and why they were gone and most importantly, why hadn't Aria told her? Of course the older girl had tried to bring it up earlier in the morning but Aria had either changed the subject or made up an excuse to leave the room. Aria was nervous, she didn't know what to expect with the whole Hanna thing and now that her friends knew, there would be even more pressure to go to the police which also terrified her. Not to mention she'd let her secret about her parents being gone slip in a moment of weakness. Aria had a feeling today was just not going to be a good day for her.

"Aria can we please talk about this?" Spencer asked, finally done with being patient.

"Spencer, I told you. I don't want to talk about anything. What part of that is so hard for you to understand?" Aria refused.

"Because I love you and I care about you and I know how unhealthy it is for you to bottle things up." Spencer replied stubbornly.

Aria sigh, she pulled her knees up into her chest and ran her fingers through her hair. She was sick of fighting with Spencer. She missed the times when they would spend all day laughing and kissing and cuddling and just not worrying about anything.

She wanted those times back.

"Spencer I don't want to fight with you all the time." Aria said solemnly.

The taller brunette was shocked in Aria's sudden mood change looked over to find her girlfriend looking exhausted and smaller than she remembered. The younger girl's face was pale and bruises have pretty much all faded by now, not that you could tell underneath her makeup. The only physical reminder that was still there from that night is Aria's limp. Snapping out of her evaluation, Spencer met Aria's gaze.

"Ar I don't want to fight either." Spencer said softly, reaching over and squeezing Aria's hand.

"They left to go with Mike up to Philly. He's seeing a therapist and my parents weren't comfortable leaving him up there all alone so they're staying with him." Aria stated simply, her voice remaining neutral but her tense body was giving her away to Spencer.

"And you're okay with that?" Spencer asked incredulously.

Don't get her wrong, Spencer didn't want Aria to go to Philly but this was ridiculous! Sure Aria had always had the most relaxed parents but leaving her alone while they were in another state after their stalker had been unmasked! Were they insane?!

Aria shrugged.

"Would it really matter if I wasn't? I want what's best for Mike and right now he has that. I'm not going to do anything to mess this up for him." Aria replied coolly.

Spencer shook her head; it was just like her girlfriend to put others before herself, especially when they didn't deserve it.

"That's it, you're staying with me." Spencer announced as they pulled into the school parking lot.

"What? Spence, no! You're parents are home it'd be weird." Aria declined quickly.

"Oh come on Aria, they're leaving again soon. They always do, it's only a matter of time now. And my house is way too big for just little ole me, come on babe, keep me company." Spencer joked, trying to convince her girlfriend.

"Spence…" Aria drawled.

"Maybe I can convince you." Spencer suggested.

Spencer leaned over and pulled Aria into a passionate kiss. Caught off guard but eager, Aria leaned into the kiss, wrapping her arms around her tall girlfriend's neck. Spencer moaned as she ran her fingers through Aria's long hair, slipping her tongue into her girlfriend's mouth. Aria suddenly started kissing Spencer's neck. She found a particularly soft spot to which she bit down easily on, causing the older girl to moan loudly.

Suddenly they jumped apart as they heard knocks on Spencer's car window and wolf whistles from all the jocks. Spencer blushed, obviously embarrassed and shot the jocks dirty glares but Aria looked terrified.

"Aria baby what's wrong?" Spencer asked frantically.

"N-nothing it's just…" Aria trailed off. Her upper lip began to quiver and the short brunette had tears in her eyes. Spencer could see the way her girlfriend was biting her lip so hard to keep the tears from falling.

"Babe it's just me. Talk to me." Spencer cooed softly. The older girl wanted to reach out and hold her girlfriend but she understood that the gesture wouldn't be welcomed right now.

"It's stupid. It's just, one second I was with you and then those boys came…" Aria mumbled, wiping her eyes.

"And males around during sexual actives gave you flashbacks." Spencer finished knowingly.

Aria blushed, clearly embarrassed by Spencer's comment.

"Aria that isn't anything to be embarrassed about. I should've known better than to push it here, a place where you aren't comfortable." Spencer apologized.

Aria nodded, pulling her knees up into her chest and breathing deeply.

"Can we please just go to class before I lose my nerve?" Aria asked quickly.

Spencer wanted to argue, she didn't like the idea of her girlfriend going to a classroom full of obnoxious boys and people that weren't her. The older brunette completely understood that she was being overprotective of Aria but who else was there to protect her? Aria was too concerned with others to protect herself and her entire family ditched her! Other than her and Hanna and Emily, there really wasn't anyone looking out for Aria so Spencer took the task upon herself.

Without waiting to hear Spencer's response, Aria opened the car door, grabbed her backpack and starting to walk to class. Confused, Spencer copied her girlfriend's actions and followed her. When Spencer finally caught up with Aria she intertwined their fingers. The taller girl felt her girlfriend relax a little, she knew that Aria was still a little freaked out and she really didn't want her to go to class.

Hanna and Emily walked up to the couple. They were both smiling and holding hands. Sure, everyone around them was whispering and pointing at them but Hanna was doing her best to ignore it. The tan girl didn't even look at Spencer or Aria; her eyes were either checking on Hanna or shooting death glares at the students staring at her girlfriend.

"Hey guys." Hanna asked cautiously.

"Hey Han." Spencer greeted, tightening her grip on her girlfriend's hand.

Aria wouldn't even look up, refusing to meet Hanna's gaze. The short girl could feel the blonde's blue eyes boring into the side of her head but tried desperately to ignore it.

"Aria…come on at least look at me." Hanna demanded, pulling Emily forward and placing her hand on Aria's arm. Aria flinched and took a small step backwards.

"Aria no one is mad at you. I would have done the same thing if I was in your situation." Hanna said softly.

Aria's head snapped up, her eyes wide with shock.

"You're n-not mad?" She asked incredulously.

"No of course not! I came out all on my own; A had nothing to do with it." Hanna promised, flashing the other girl a smile.

Without warning, Aria launched herself into the blonde's arms. Hanna felt her shirt start to get wet with Aria's tears and shot a panicked look at her girlfriend and best friend; Hanna was thrilled that Aria was opening up but she knew that girl would be embarrassed to be crying in the middle of the hallway. She gently pulled Aria along until they were outside and back in the parking lot.

"Shhh, sweetie it's okay." Hanna comforted her best friend.

Emily and Spencer trailed behind their girlfriends looks of worry etched into both of their faces.

"Aria are you okay?" Emily asked carefully.

'I-I thought you guys w-would h-hate me!" Aria sobbed into Hanna's chest.

Emily let out a soft laugh.

"Ar, we'd never hate you. You know that." Emily promised.

Aria sniffled and looked up, finally done crying.

"Yeah, if I hated you, who would I use as my life-size dress up doll?" Hanna teased, quickly fixing Aria's makeup.

Hanna's comment seemed to ease some of the tension and earn a small laughs from each of the girls.

"Wow we're missing a lot of school. We should probably get back." Aria sniffed as she made a move to get out of Hanna's arms and walk back to the school. The suggestion made Spencer tense and Emily frown. Hanna just laughed and tightened her hold on the smaller girl.

"Aria you're crazy if you think any of us are going to let you go back to school after a breakdown like that. I think all of us are in need of some serious retail therapy." Hanna squealed happily. Hanna winked at Emily and Spencer, as if she was silently telling them a secret. Their eyes widened and they nodded.

Aria rolled her eyes but nodded. They all took Spencer's car and drove to the "mall".

"So Han how are you dealing with coming out, has anyone said anything to you?" Aria asked, ready to go defend Hanna to any small minded idiot if she was needed.

"Surprisingly no, I think everyone is still in shock that the four hottest girls in Rosewood are off the market, permanently." Hanna said with a smirk.

"Hey Spence, we were supposed to turn at that last light to get to the mall." Aria reminded her girlfriend, confused because Spencer had the way to the mall memorized.

The three girls exchanged a look.

A silence fell over the car before Emily decided to be brave and bring it up to Aria, in a place where she couldn't get away.

"Aria now that Hanna is out, there is nothing stopping you from going to the police. We're taking you there now so that you don't have a chance to back out." Emily said calmly.

"What! No! You cannot take me to the police against my will! I don't want to go; A will do bad things, worse things than outing Hanna!" Aria screamed, pulling her knees up to her chest. Spencer was obviously distracted, she wanted to reach out and comfort her obviously distressed girlfriend but she couldn't exactly take her eyes off of the rode without getting them all killed.

"Aria, sweetie calm down and breathe. No one is making you do anything but Emily is right, the reason that you didn't want to go to the police before was because you didn't want A to out Hanna and now that isn't an option for A anymore so really there isn't anything holding you back." Spencer reassured her girlfriend, hoping to calm her down enough to stop her girlfriend's oncoming panic attack.

Aria was silent for a moment, thinking things over.

"You'll be with me the whole time?" Aria asked in a small voice.

Spencer's heart broke at her girlfriend's hesitancy.

"Of course."

The girls pulled up to the police station and got out. As they entered the building Hanna and Emily exchanged a look.

"We're going to wait out here until you guys get done and then we'll have a sleepover at our place okay?" Emily suggested, pulling her blonde girlfriend close and wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Yeah sounds good." Spencer answered, wrapping her strong arms around Aria and pulling her close as well, hoping to make her girlfriend feel safe.

Spencer led her girlfriend over to the chief of police's desk and Spencer cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, something traumatic has happening to my girlfriend and we'd like to report it." Spencer said quietly in her business tone.

The chief looked up.

"Of course, come with me please." He said, leading the girls into a back room.

"And your names are?" The chief asked.

"Aria Montgomery and Spencer Hastings." The girls answered.

"I'm chief detective Ryan Andrews." The man introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you." Aria said hollowly.

"Now you said something traumatic happened to you, what was it?" He asked, pulling out his laptop to take notes.

"I was raped." Aria said emotionlessly. Spencer flinched and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's shoulders comfortingly.

"Aria, can you tell me what happened?" Ryan asked sympathetically.

And she told him everything.

**Wow that was a long chapter. Hey guys! Wow I've been updating a lot lately. So far so good with Hanna coming out and Aria finally went to the cops! I wonder how A is going to react to that. Sorry their wasn't a lot of Hannily but there will be all four girls in the next chapter so Hannily is included in their sleepover. Thank you guys so much for reading my story! I haven't been getting that any reviews lately with makes me sad. So please let me know what you liked and would like to see. Again, thanks so much for reading and review. **

**-Magic. **

**Oh! And P.S. I've gotten some requests to do a Spencer/Alison story….would anymore be interested in that? And if you have an idea for one that you'd like me to write, feel free to PM me! Thanks guys**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm sorry for the super long delay! I was beyond overjoyed with all the reviews! Thank you guys so much. And without further ado, here's the next chapter. **

One hour later, Aria had told the police everything without sparing one single detail. Aria had retold the horrors of the torture her ex English teacher Ezra Fitz had put her through and Spencer sat right next to her the entire time, fighting tears. The older girl had wanted nothing more than to pull her short girlfriend close and tell her everything was okay. The policeman had nodded sympathetically, jotting down notes the whole time of what Aria said. After asking a few detail filled questions, the agony of reliving her own personal hell was over.

"That was extremely brave of you Aria. We really appreciate you reporting this so that we can protect other girls and ensure that this never happens again." The cop thanked her gravely.

Aria nodded stiffly in response, not meeting his eyes or Spencer's piercing gaze, which hadn't left her in over an hour. Spencer stood as close as she could to her, noting how she'd spoken in a dull, monotone during the reporting and refused to look anyone in the eyes. The tiny girl had both of her arms wrapped tightly around herself and Spencer could see her shaking.

Spencer honestly didn't regret Hanna, Emily and herself forcing Aria into telling the police, she knew that it truly was the only way for Aria to heal and move on in her life would be if she got justice or at the very least closure. On the other hand, she knew that Aria would be beyond furious with her and probably would not hesitate to let her and the other girls know just how angry she was later. The tall brunette tuned back into the conversation just to hear the officer finishing up.

"We'll call you before we make our move on Ezra. Feel free to call me if you have any questions." Officer Andrews said quietly. He wrote down his number along with the sheriff office's number on a business card and handed it to Aria.

Aria murmured a quiet "thank you," turned on her heel and limped out of the police station.

"Aria!" Spencer called, chasing after her girlfriend.

Hanna and Emily had been sitting anxiously in the waiting room, Hanna was gripping the tan girl's hands so hard Emily swore they were about to break but if it made Hanna feel even the slightest bit better, she sure as hell didn't mind.

The couple looked up to see Aria running out, tears welling up in the small girl's eyes and trying to hold herself together. Their hearts broke at the sight of their best friend in that state. Seeing the panic in Spencer's eyes, the couple quickly shot up out of their seats, grabbed their purses and chased after their friends.

"Aria wait! Just talk to me!" Spencer pleaded. Sparia was at the car by now, Aria was still trying to storm away but Spencer had caught up with Aria and was holding her hand firmly.

Hanna and Emily stopped about 20 feet from the couple, unsure if this was a fight between the two of them or a group thing that they should be present for. Aria answered that for them.

"What the hell to you want me to say Spencer? You lied to me! All of you!" Aria shouted. She honestly didn't care if anyone was watching or what a nut job she knew that she must look like, screaming at her best friends and girlfriend outside of a police station with mascara streaming down her face. Her arms tightened around herself and she was visibly shaking again. Spencer took a tentative step forward but when Aria shook her head and looked away, Spencer's step faltered and she stayed in her spot.

"Aria I'm sorry! I didn't have another choice; I was just trying to do what's best for you." Spencer cried, Hanna and Emily appeared instantly on either sides of Spencer and wrapped their arms around her to show support.

"It was my choice! A-and you took it from me!" Aria began screaming and ended her statement in a whisper.

"What can I do to make this better?" Spencer asked quietly, allowing Emily and Hanna to help her stand. She felt much calmer with her best friends there, she felt less alone, like her control was about slip.

Aria just shook her head back and forth, big tears streaming down her cheeks faster.

"Aria please, you have to understand…we did this because we love you." Hanna pleaded with her, tears now streaming down the blonde's face and for once she could have cared less that she looked like a mess.

Aria laughed darkly sending shivers down the spines of her friends. They'd never heard such a bitter, cynical sound come from their Aria; her laughs were always light and happy.

"I don't have to understand anything Han. I'm done." Aria said, looking pointedly at Spencer.

"Aria, babe you don't mean that." Spencer stated surely, racing over to take one of the smaller girl's hands in her own.

Aria ripped away from Spencer's grip on her.

"Oh I mean it. We're through." The short girl spat.

"Aria, stop." Emily spoke up, commanding the attention of all three girls with her firm voice.

"Look I understand that you're dealing with a lot right now but do you honestly think that breaking up with Spencer is the way to solve all of your problems? Do you think it'll make you less stressed out? Because it won't. I know that you love Spencer and breaking up with her is just going to cause both of you a ton of heartache and you've both had enough of that for a lifetime." Emily said softly.

Hanna squeezed her girlfriend's hand in encouragement and smiled up at the dark haired beauty.

"I'm sorry Emily, when did I ask you for your opinion about _my _breakup with _my_ girlfriend?" Aria asked sarcastically.

Too stunned to say anything, the other girls just stared blankly at the short brunette.

Aria scoffed "No response, great."

And with that Aria left. Spencer was too stunned to chase after her…ex girlfriend?

"Spence she didn't mean that." Hanna promised.

She hadn't even realized that she was crying until Hanna was wiping the tears that were rolling down her cheeks away.

"I can't lose her guys. She's everything." Spencer choked out, her voice sounded hollow and broken.

"We'll get her back Spence." Emily said, finding her voice. She was still recovering from the shock of Aria snapping on her like that.

Spencer just nodded, the look of Hastings's determination in her eyes. She would get Aria back; the girl was just upset Spencer rationalized.

Everything would work out, it just had to.

**Okay don't hate me! I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've updated. I swear I won't wait that long again. I know this chapter was a little sad but I felt like it was appropriate. Thank you so much for sticking with the story! If you have a suggestion feel free to leave it in a review or PM me. Thank you guys so much for reading and please leave a review. If you've seen pitch perfect, the movie, it's awesome and I'm writing a story about it too so feel free to check it out if you like this one. Anyways, thank you guys so much! Please review. **


	20. Chapter 20

Aria went home straight from the police station. It had taken her about 30 minutes to walk all the way home; since Spencer had driven her and her car was at home she really didn't have much of a choice. She was just so _angry _at the world. At her parents, for leaving her, at Ezra for ruining her life, with Spencer and Hanna and Emily because they just _ugh!_ It wasn't even possible to explain.

She marched up into her bedroom, forcefully shoved her ear buds in her ears turned up the volume as high as it would go. She wrote furiously in her journal, hoping to unleash all the feelings that were building up inside of her. The more anxious and angry she felt the faster she wrote. It didn't take long for the young brunette to realize that this wasn't working.

She screamed at the top of her lungs. She screamed until she was sore in the throat and couldn't scream anymore. This was killing her. She'd finally gotten what she didn't even know she wanted, which was Ezra in jail but she lost Spencer. The short girl knew she had no right to be upset about the break up between them considering she'd broken up with her Spencer but she still missed the girl terribly.

Could this really be it? Could she and Spencer really be over? After everything they'd been through? No, no they couldn't be. Aria needed Spencer like she needed air. She was positive that she'd never love anyone else the way she loved the tall gorgeous brunette.

She took the quickest shower she possible could, grabbed and ankle brace for her ankle, which for some reason was still hurting even though it'd been over a week, dressed in dark skinny jeans and a plaid shirt, grabbed her phone and keys and left for Spencer's house. She had to fix things with the older girl before it was too late.

* * *

><p>Spencer wasn't fairing much better. Hanna and Emily had offered to stay with her but declined, insisting that she just wanted to be alone for the time being. She'd showered and cleaned up and started her homework and then made herself dinner. She did anything and everything to keep her mind off of her beautiful ex girlfriend.<p>

She was currently staring mindlessly off into space when she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Confused, she got up to open it to reveal Aria standing there. She was soaked to the bone and shivering. When had it started raining? Without another word she ushered the small girl inside.

"Jesus, you're freezing." Spencer commented, worried. She handed the small girl a towel and received a quiet thanks in return.

"Wait here, I'm going to get you something to wear." Spencer said quietly, already heading in the direction of her bedroom. She was beyond thrilled that Aria had come over. That had to be a good sign right? She grabbed a pair of her most comfortable sweat pants and a long sleeved black shirt and raced back down the stairs to find Aria looking as beautiful as ever with her arms wrapped tightly around herself and her shivers had progressed into trembles and shakes.

Wordlessly Spencer handed the hazel-eyed girl the clothes and she walked into the bathroom to chance. Spencer let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She walked into the kitchen and made some coffee for the two of them. When Aria emerged from the bathroom she looked much better, well warmer. Spencer handed her the coffee and they sat down together on the couch across from each other. Granted, both girls would much rather be snuggled up in each other's arms they were technically broken up and Aria needed to talk.

"Why did you come here, Aria?" Spencer asks, breaking the silence. She wants to add that she's thrilled that she did but she doesn't.

"I needed to talk to you." Aria says simply. She took a quick sip out of her coffee before making a face that Spencer knows from experience is her 'there is way to much caffeine in this drink' face and it makes Spencer smile. Spencer can hear the strain in her voice but she knows better than to comment on it, Aria will begin soon anyway.

"I need you to know that I'm sorry. Breaking up with you is the stupidest thing I've ever done. I know it's only been a few hours since then but I was just so _angry _that I exploded it onto you and I'm sorry." Aria let out the words in a continued string. She looked up to meet Spencer's piercing yet sorrowful gaze and looked away again.

"What changed your mind?" The older girl asks quietly. She looks at Aria, trying to make her meet her gaze again and when she does it's like their staring into each other's souls.

"I was sitting in my room when I realized that it can't end like this. _We _can't end like this. I can't let you go because I love you Spencer. I always have and I always will. I realized that I don't want us to not be together because I'll never love anyone else the way that I love you." Aria answered, getting choked up towards the end of her declaration.

Spencer can see the tears welling up in her, well it's kind of up to her now what they are, eyes and she wants more than anything to pull her into her arms and kiss her.

So she does.

She moves across the couch, pulls the shorter girl into her arms and kisses her until she has to come up for air.

"So you'll take me back?" Aria asks playfully, still breathless.

Spencer doesn't answer. She just pulls Aria back to her and reconnects their lips. And it doesn't matter that Aria still has a lot to deal with and it doesn't matter that they still have to deal with the whole Ezra thing and it doesn't matter that until 10 minutes ago they were broken up. All that matters is they were together again.

**I know it's short but I really couldn't stand the idea of them being apart so I needed to fix that. I'll update again soon. I'm thinking about ending this fic pretty soon, like maybe a few more chapters. Thank you guys so so much for reading this story. I'm still amazed to this day by the response I get. I love all you readers so much! Anything you'd like to see happen? More Hanna and Emily? Thanksso much for reading and please please leave a review! They make me update faster Haha. **


	21. Chapter 21

Aria woke up the next morning feeling strangely lighter for some reason. She was pretty sure that the reason had a lot to do with how she woke up to the amazing feeling of Spencer's arms around her. The short brunette was so happy that she'd come over the previous night and made up with her girlfriend.

Trying not to make her sleeping girlfriend, Aria slowly unwrapped herself from Spencer's comfortable embrace and stood up. She stretched her arms over her head and descended down the enormous stairs. As she was walking, Aria winced, realizing that her leg really was still bothering her and considering that it had been over a week since her…attack, if it was going to heal on its own, that it would have by now. Sighing, the hazel-eyed girl limped the rest of the way down the stairs and started to make breakfast for herself and her girlfriend.

Aria hummed as she started to pour the pancake mix into the pan on the oven. She felt pretty good about being able to do something for Spencer for once, considering how much her girlfriend had done for her in the past few weeks. She finished cooking her girlfriend's favorite chocolate chip pancakes and gently flipped them onto a plate, along with some orange juice and fresh fruit. Twirling one of her chocolate locks around her finger, Aria took a tray out of her girlfriend's pantry and placed the breakfast on it.

The short brunette groaned as she sized up the stairs that seemed to go on forever; she picked up the tray and slowly climbed up the stairs, trying as hard as she could to keep the majority of her weight off of her seemingly injured leg. Aria made a mental note to ask Spencer to take a look at her leg; her girlfriend might not have a medical degree but she sure knew a hell of a lot about being a doctor.

Finally, Aria finished climbing the stairs and she crept into Spencer's bedroom. The taller girl was still sleeping and Aria didn't think she'd ever seen anyone or anything look so effortlessly beautiful before. She set the tray with breakfast down on the bed and crawled over to the side Spencer was sleeping on, waking her beautiful girlfriend with a gentle kiss.

Spencer sat up groggily

"Aria? What are you doing up, I always wake up before you." Spencer asked, still drowsy.

The younger girl grinned, "I just really wanted to do something for you, since you've done so much for me recently."

"Aria, babe, you don't have to do anything to repay me, I take care of you because I love you." Spencer told her honestly.

Aria smiled and pecked Spencer on the cheek before reaching over and picking up the tray and setting it on Spencer's lap.

Spencer gasped and she smiled so wide, her entire face lit up. It was, without a doubt, the most adorable sight Aria had ever seen.

"Are these chocolate chip?" The older girl questioned excitedly.

Aria smiled softly and nodded.

"I love you so, so much." Spencer told Aria seriously, pulling her in for a deep kiss. Aria returned it, getting lost in Spencer's beautiful hair and sweet scent. Spencer moaned and gently bit down on Aria's lip, causing the shorter girl to shiver in pleasure.

When they pulled apart Aria laughed softly. She noted that for the first time in a while, she and Spencer were acting like the couple they used to be, before all this drama happened. Before she'd been attacked and before they broke up for like a day.

Spencer was greedily digging into her special pancakes and Aria was watching with amusement, thinking to herself that it simply wasn't possible for her to love Spencer any more than she already did, but every day she proved herself wrong and fell that much more in love with the taller brunette.

Their blissful moment was interrupted by the shrill ringing of Spencer's cell phone. Spencer groaned, outwardly upset about the thought of being separated from her marvelous pancakes for even one second.

"Hello." Spencer answered, somewhat bitterly.

"Hey, I was just calling because I was worried about you and I know Hanna is too." Emily explained carefully.

Spencer sat up a little straighter.

"Oh um, I'm fine Em." Spencer answered slowly, unsure of how to tell her about the recent development between her and Aria.

"Spence, you don't have to put up a brave face for me, Hanna and I are here for you- "Emily began to argue but Spencer cut her off.

"Emily I'm really okay. Better than okay actually" Spencer's eyes drifted to meet her girlfriend's hazel ones, staring back at hers. She gave the younger girl a flirty wink and a soft smile "Aria is with me."

"Right now?" Emily questioned eagerly "What happened is? Is she okay? Are you? Did you guys make up?"

"Slow down. We're both fine; we're just talking some things out okay? You and Hanna and come over in an hour and we can all talk." Spencer informed her friend.

Emily nodded, unsure of how to react. The tan swimmer would have never thought Aria would be with Spencer considering they'd just broken up not even a whole day ago. She hung up with Spencer and called out to Hanna, who was still sleeping.

"Emily what's up?" The blonde ask sleepily.

"Aria is at Spencer's." Emily informed her quickly, unsure how she felt about it.

Hanna sat up, suddenly more alert.

"What, you mean like right now?" The blue eyed girl questioned.

Emily nodded "Spencer said we can go over in like an hour to see them."

Hanna groaned "That's going to be so awkward."

Emily's eyebrows furrowed in confusion "Why would it be different than any other time we've all hung out at Spencer's?"

"Because the last time we saw Aria, she told all of us to go to hell. I don't think she'll be too excited to see us. I still don't know what could have happened to make her go to Spencer's that quickly." Hanna stated matter-of-factly.

Emily winced, remembering how her short best friend basically told her, Hanna and Spencer she was done with all of them.

"Han you know she didn't mean any of that. Aria was just at her breaking point, I think we can cut her a break this time." Emily said, crossing the room and sitting on the bed next to her girlfriend and then pulling the blonde into her lap.

Hanna hummed in response; she gently tucked one of Emily's dark strands of hair behind her ear and smiled.

"You're so beautiful Em." The blonde told her honestly.

A faint blush covered the tan girl's cheeks as she leaned in to kiss her girlfriend who ducked out of it. Emily looked at Hanna questioningly

It was Hanna's turn to blush "I haven't even brushed my teeth yet or put on any makeup."

Hanna stood up and moved to get off the bed when Emily caught her arm.

"Hanna, I would still think you are the most beautiful girl in the world if you never wore makeup again. You don't need to wear makeup for me to think you're amazingly gorgeous." Emily told her honestly, pulling Hanna back down and into her arms.

Emily knew that Hanna had a lot of insecurities. Most of them were about her appearance and Emily knew that some of that came from Alison and some from her father and even some from Sean, when he rejected her that night but Emily knew that she could spend the rest of her life making Hanna feel beautiful and be perfectly happy with that.

"You're so perfect." Hanna murmured into her girlfriend's shoulder.

Emily laughed "Far from it. But if we ever want to get to Spencer's within the hour we should get ready. I'm going to go shower."

"Can I join?" Hanna asked playfully, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Emily smiled back. She leaned down and spoke with her mouth right next to Hanna's ear "Maybe next time, if you're up for it."

Hanna shiver as a hot chill coursed through her body, feeling Emily's hot breath in her ear.

"You're not fair." Hanna moaned.

Emily licked her lips and pulled back, laughing softly "Sorry babe."

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><p>Spencer hung up the phone and met Aria's questioning gaze.<p>

"She was worried about me, considering they still think we're broken up." Spencer told her slowly, trying to gauge Aria's reaction.

Aria winced "I owe you and the girls an apology about that. I was way out of line with some of the things I said."

Spencer immediately shook her head "Aria no one blames you for the way you acted. I get it, we were all pushing you and if it were me, I probably would have snapped too."

Aria let out a shaky breath and nodded.

"So they're coming over in an hour?" The short brunette questioned.

Spencer nodded in affirmative.

"Okay, then I'm going to shower and get dressed and then we can talk before they get here." Aria told her girlfriend. She gave Spencer a soft kiss on the lips before walking out of Spencer's bedroom and into the bathroom.

Spencer watched as her girlfriend left the room and paid special attention to the way she favored her right leg. Noting the limp on her left, the tall girl made a mental note to mention it when Aria came back from her shower. Concern filled Spencer as she realized that her leg might be seriously hurt if it hadn't begun to heal by now.

Sighing, Spencer sat up and ran her fingers through her long, messy hair. The events from last night still vividly in her mind. She would have to discuss with Aria how much of last night they were going to share with Hanna and Emily. Even though they were their best friends, Spencer didn't want to cross any lines and reveal too much about her and Aria's personal relationship.

Smiling to herself, it dawned on Spencer that she actually still _had _a relationship with Aria. Spencer pulled off her covers and got out of bed to make herself presentable before her best friends came over for what was sure to be an interesting talk.

**Sorry for the delay! I feel like I say that every time. Thank you guys so much for sticking with this story, it means the world to me. Well, I threw in some more Hannily in this chapter, since there really hasn't been a lot lately. I also managed a little Sparia fluff. If you have anything you'd like to see or see more of you can PM me or leave a review. Again, thanks so much for reading and please feel free to leave a review! You guys are the best! **


	22. Chapter 22

**I'm so sorry it's been so long! I say that every time, I've just been super busy lately. Thank you so much for staying with the story! I love you guys so much. Well, without further ado, chapter 22 **

Hanna huffed indignantly from the passenger's seat of Emily's car as she toyed with her bracelets, crossed and then uncrossed her legs and nervously fidgeted with her hair. The tan girl looked over at the beautiful blonde, knowing the signs of her girlfriend's irritation by heart.

"Hanna? What's up?" Emily asked carefully. She knew that Hanna had a huge heart but she was also fiercely protective of her friends, and that obviously included Spencer.

"It's nothing Emily." Hanna snapped, protectively crossing her arms across her chest.

Emily sighed and turned her attention back to the road. The taller girl knew that her girlfriend was the type to clam up if you pushed her and judging based on Hanna's body language and irritated tone, she was definitely not in the mood to be pushed.

While Emily had a pretty good idea of why her girlfriend was upset, she figured it would be best if she brought it up with Hanna when they were alone.

As Emily pulled into Spencer's driveway, parked her car, she went around to open her girlfriend's door and help her out but Hanna was already out of the car and heading up to the front door.

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><p>Aria came out of the shower and dressed in Spencer's most comfortable pair of sweats and one of Spencer's field hockey t-shirts, those always made the short brunette feel at ease. As she pulled it on, the small girl breathed in the sweet smell of her girlfriend, bringing a smile to her face.<p>

"Aria you decent?" Spencer called, walking up the stairs and into her bedroom where her girlfriend was towel drying her hair.

"Would it matter if I wasn't?" Aria asked playfully checking out Spencer suggestively.

Spencer rolled her eyes, a light blush flushing her cheeks and crossed her bedroom, sitting herself down on the bed. Aria couldn't help but notice how fresh and gorgeous Spencer looked in her dark skinny jeans and simple Rosewood High hoodie with her hair hanging loosely around her shoulders.

"Okay, how much of last night are you comfortable sharing?" Spencer asked directly as Aria joined her girlfriend on the bed. Aria's posture tensed but she forced herself to relax.

"Wow, talk about that Hastings eagerness." Aria mumbled jokingly.

"Aria" Spencer spoke warningly "Hanna and Emily are going to be here soon and I need to know what we can tell them. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

Aria sighed "Honestly I think we should just tell them the truth. I was an idiot for breaking up with you and I'm so sorry, I-"

Spencer could see her girlfriend getting worked up and gently reached out and placed her hand on the younger girl's arm to calm her "Aria stop. I forgave you; you don't need to keep apologizing. It's in the past and all that matters is we're together now okay?"

Aria nodded and flashed Spencer that smile that always made her go weak at the knees and continued "We tell them I came over last night, apologized for being such a bitch and you in your everlasting forgiveness took me back and here we are."

Spencer smiled at her girlfriend, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Okay then."

Aria leaned into the embrace, looking straight up into Spencer's mesmerizing brown orbs and leaned in, brushing her lips against the older girl's. Spencer smiled into the kiss, relocating her arms to around her girlfriend's waist and pulling her closer. Aria's hands managed to tangle themselves into Spencer's dark chocolate locks.

Too soon for the couple's liking, the doorbell downstairs rang and both girls rose up off of Spencer's comfortable bed. Spencer kept one arm around Aria's waist as they descended the stairs. Spencer was still beyond thrilled to have her girlfriend back and wanted to keep her in her arms as long as the she could. Aria winced after the third step and the older girl could feel the tremor of pain that passed through the younger girl's body.

"Aria are you okay?" Spencer asked, slightly panicked.

"I'm fine, it's been feeling like that for a while now. I had a brace on it earlier." Aria half-lied, trying to hide her grimace. She certainly didn't _feel _fine but she didn't want to worry Spencer.

Spencer nodded, accepting the answer for now but knowing she'd bring it up as soon as Hanna and Emily left.

The doorbell rang 3 more times as Spencer forced her girlfriend to slow their pace walking down the stairs. Outside, Hanna was tapping her foot impatiently and Emily had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach about the mood her blonde was in.

Aria turned to the living room but Spencer tightened her grip on the smaller girl's waist, pulling her along to answer the door. Aria smiled up at her tall, gorgeous girlfriend and gladly went with her.

Spencer opened the door, expecting to see her friends happy for Sparia but instead was met an angry looking Hanna and a worried looking Emily.

Hanna brushed by the couple and went straight into the living room. Emily shot Spencer an apologetic look and gave Aria a quick once over before following her blonde girlfriend into Spencer's house.

"Come on in Han." Spencer chuckled jokingly, closing the door behind her best friends. Aria's face was a mix of guilt and confusion.

Spencer pulled Aria along with her and sat down in the loveseat across from the couch that was now occupied by Hanna and Emily. Spencer kept her arm around Aria protectively as she locked eyes with her blonde best friend, analyzing her tense and seemingly angry body language.

"So?" Hanna asked coldly, breaking the silence.

"Are you going to tell us what Aria said that magically fixed everything?" Hanna asked sarcastically.

"Hanna…" Emily said warningly

Spencer's eyes narrow and her arm around Aria tightened.

"What Emily? She yelled at you for trying to _save her relationship_ and she made Spencer cry. So I want to know how she magically earned Spencer's forgiveness after _ripping her heart out_ literally yesterday." Hanna spat angrily.

Hanna's outburst was met with a stunned silence; none of the girls were sure how to react. Aria felt crushing guilt weigh on her shoulders as she realized everything Hanna had just said was true. Emily was in shock, while she did agree that Aria had hurt Spencer, she was still Aria's best friend too and completely understood why Aria had snapped. The tan girl grew increasingly more worried and she had a feeling that this wasn't just about Spencer and Aria.

Spencer was furious. The taller girl felt Aria shrink into herself and immediately rose to her feet. The taller girl could feel herself shaking in rage as she walked over to Hanna who had already risen herself.

"How can you even ask that? I love her Hanna! She made a mistake and she's sorry. She came over last night in the pouring rain, crying and freezing her ass off because it took her a few hours to realize that she made a mistake. How can you possibly be angry with her for snapping at us after _going to the police station to report her rape_? Do you have _any _fucking clue how hard that must have been for her?" Spencer screamed, her body trembling with rage.

"Spencer I know it was hard for her! But how can you just take her back after she hurt you like that? You were crying your eyes out yesterday and today it's like nothing happened! God, am I the only one who remembers what happened?" Hanna asked incredulously

Spencer threw her hands up in anger, leaving the room and jogging up the stairs, still shaking in fury. The oldest brunette thought she ought to leave before she said something to Hanna she'd regret.

Emily had a feeling Hanna wasn't exactly talking about Spencer and Aria anymore and felt it was time to intervene.

"Hanna stop. Look I get it, you're upset but screaming at Aria is not going to make anything better. Can't you tell that she feels bad enough?" Emily reasoned calmly, shooting glances at the short brunette who now had silent tears slowly streaming down her face. Spencer had been too furious to notice them.

Hanna's shoulders drooped and her eyes widened in horror as she too glanced over at Aria.

"Aria…." Hanna trailed off, the anger visibly leaving her body and the blonde seemed to realize where she was for the first time.

"I-I'm sorry okay? I get it, I know I s-screwed up Han, I know." Aria whimpered, trying desperately to keep the tears at bay as she pulled her legs up into her chest and tried to even out her breathing.

"Aria I didn't mean to yell at you." Hanna said softly.

"Yeah you did and that's okay Hanna. I'm sorry that I hurt you." Aria told her, composing herself a little. The small girl stood up and faced Emily as well.

"Em I'm so sorry for what I said to you too. I know you were just trying to help and I am so, _so _sorry that I screamed at you." Aria said softly.

"Aria it's okay, I understand." Emily spoke gently, trying to keep Aria and Hanna calm.

"No Em, it's not. To answer your question Han, I have no idea why Spencer forgave me and I know I don't deserve it but I love her too. I need Spencer like I need air. She's the reason that I've managed to make it through these past few weeks, I would be completely lost without her. Last night I felt so horrible about what I said and what I'd done that I had to see her and she forgave me and I will always be so grateful for that. I didn't do anything to deserve her forgiveness; she just has a huge heart." Aria told them tearfully.

"Aria I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that stuff to you. I-I should go." Hanna stammered, turning on her heel and making a brisk exit out Spencer's front door.

"I'm so sorry about her and I forgive you Aria." Emily told the girl she considered a sister and pulled her into a comforting hug.

Aria wrapped her arms around her tan best friend and whispered "It's okay, go after her."

Emily shot Aria a thankful look and raced out the door.

"Hanna!" Emily called after the blond.

The tan girl could clearly see her girlfriend walking down the street in the wrong direction and ran to her car. It only took the dark haired girl to about 10 seconds to catch up with her girlfriend.

"Hanna, please just get in the car." Emily pleaded.

The blonde bombshell continued to ignore her girlfriend and quickened her pace.

"Babe, I'm in a car. You aren't going to out run me." Emily said playfully.

Emily sighed,

Again no response.

After hearing a car horn beep several times and get too close to Hanna for Emily's liking she began to get worried.

"Jesus Hanna, would you just get in the car?!" Emily begged frantically.

Hanna sighed and finally obliged, opening the door to the passenger's seat and getting in.

Silence filled the car as Emily let out a sigh of relief and drained the built up tension from her shoulders.

"Would you mind telling me what the hell that was about?" Emily asked finally. She made sure to keep her voice calm and not upset Hanna but she was worried and angry.

"I don't want to talk about this." Hanna said forcefully, giving her girlfriend the look that clearly meant 'drop it'

"Yeah? Well I do." Emily countered "Aria is one of our best friends and we all know she messed up but you just….I don't even understand what just happened but I do _know_ conversation you were having was not about Aria. So are you going to tell me what's going on with you?"

Hanna's big blue eyes filled with tears that she tried to keep back.

"Not here." She whispered.

Emily nodded, switching lanes she knew the perfect place to go.

**Yay for Hannily and Sparia! Wow so Hanna snapped. What's up with her? Well you'll find out next time and Spencer's reaction to that. Kind of an intense chapter. Anything you'd like to see or see more of? Thank you so much for reading and PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**


	23. Chapter 23

**You guys are so awesome, thanks for reviewing! So I wrote this one pretty quick since you were all so eager to know what's up with Hanna. Thank you guys for reading, you're amazing. And please review!**

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><p>Emily pulled up to the park where she and Hanna had gone the night after Maya died. Hanna had driven her there as soon as she could pry Emily's mother away from her to take her mind off of the tragedy that had just befallen her. The raven-haired girl ad dubbed it the perfect place because she and Hanna could be alone, without her mother in the house or any one walking in on their conversation.<p>

The tan girl was starting to get a little frightened with her girlfriend's behavior. The usually bubbly and talkative blonde was staring out the window mindlessly, her hands shaking ever so slightly and her eyes were glazed over, as if she were in another world or relieving a moment. When they finally arrived at their destination, Emily stopped the car and glanced over at Hanna, who was still unresponsive.

"We're here." Emily told her girlfriend quietly, reaching over and lightly touching the blonds' arm to get her attention. The swimmer was beyond shocked when her Hanna flinched away.

Immediately, Emily went into protective mode.

"What the hell was that Hanna?" Emily asked in a tight voice, her eyes scanning the blonde up and down for any sign of injury or pain.

Broken from her trance, Hanna thrust open the car door, pulling out of her tan girlfriend's reach and stalked off to go sit on a park bench.

"Hanna!" Emily called after her, exiting the car and trailing after the blond bombshell. When Emily caught up to her, she cautiously took a seat next to her girlfriend on the bench. While the tan girl was eager to press Hanna for information, she took a deep breath, remembering that the calm approach worked best with the blue eyed beauty.

"Hanna why did you flinch when I touched you?" Emily asked again, this time her voice was much more calm.

"It's nothing Emily." Hanna said softly, her arms were wrapped tightly around herself and she was shaking.

"It's not nothing Han, just tell me, please." Emily asked again. She reached forward and captured her girlfriend's hands in her own and held them close to her heart. The swimmer could then feel how hard her girlfriend was shaking and it broke her heart to see the blonde so terrified.

"I didn't flinch because of you okay?" Hanna answered quietly, instantly feeling much more at ease with Emily holding her hands.

"Then why did you?" Emily questioned carefully.

"I don't want to tell you because I-I'll start crying." Hanna muttered out, her voice breaking.

Emily's heart shattered into a million pieces at the sound of Hanna's broken voice. Reaching out, Emily carefully brushed one of the tears sliding down Hanna's face that were partially hidden by the luscious locks of golden hair away.

"Sweetie, you're already crying." Emily said tenderly. Internally, she was panicking over what could have happened; she'd never see Hanna like this before.

Hanna seemed to choke on a sob as the realization came crashing down on her that she was in fact already crying. The blonde furiously wiped the tears away, desperate for them to disappear. She ripped her hands out of Emily's and stood up to begin pacing.

"Can we please just go home? I really can't deal with this right now." Hanna asked angrily. Well, her voice was meant to be angry but it wavered and Emily could tell Hanna was about to break. Rising from her spot on the bench, she reached out to stop Hanna's pacing and pulled her close into the warm, inviting circle of the tan girl's comforting embrace.

"Stop pushing me away Hanna, I'm not going anywhere." Emily spoke softly, but firmly in the blonde's ear.

"Why not?" Hanna demanded angrily "Everyone else leaves, you will too." Hanna pushed away from Emily, feeling angry and not wanting to be held or comforted.

Emily ignored the comment, knowing that her girlfriend was just lashing out and didn't actually think that she'd leave. Not that she blamed the blonde, after her father and Caleb, it made sense that she'd have abandonment issues, but this was not the time to get into that.

"Hanna, tell me what's going on. Please." Emily begged a final time, gently trapping the blonde in her arms and pulling her back to the park bench. The swimmer sat down and gently pulled the blonde with her.

And just like that, the dam broke.

"He h-hates me." Hanna sobbed loudly into Emily's shoulder.

The blonde's sobs were making Emily feel so, _so_bad but she knew that Hanna had to let it out before Emily could provide her comfort.

"M-my Dad. He H-hates me Emily!" Hanna choked out. Hanna's sobs caused her entire body to shake as a seemingly endless stream of tears poured out of her eyes. Each cry was like a stab to Emily's heart and she wanted nothing more than to take the pain away from the girl she loved.

"I-I told him" She hiccupped "About us. T-that I was d-dating you."

Emily's heart sank into her chest. She was all too familiar with not being accepted for who you are by your parents.

"And now he h-hates me." Hanna wailed, tears continued to pour.

"Hanna, shhh, it's okay. I'm sure he doesn't hate you." Emily assured her soothingly. The tan girl ran her hands over Hanna's back in what she hoped was a calming manner as she pulled the blonde close and kissed the side of her head. Emily noticed that the blonde's eyes bloodshot and red; her body shaking so violently that she was worried she was going to have to take her to the hospital if she didn't stop.

"He told me, t-that I'm dead to him and he never wants to see me again." Hanna muttered out.

Emily ran her hands up and down the blonde's arms to try and calm her down the best way she could. Deep down, Emily knew that there was no way to make someone feel better about this. The brown eyed girl would bet her life that Hanna's father (who she had always had a multitude of insecurities about) had said some many horrible things that Hanna would never be able to get out of her head and that sent angry shivers up Emily's spine.

Hanna yelped as soon as Emily's arms brushed up against her upper arms. Emily's eyes zeroed in on the blonde's arms. It was dark outside and Hanna was wearing a jacket, there was no way she'd be able to see the problem.

"Hanna, take off your jacket." Emily commanded softly, her arms reaming ever so softly on Hanna's shoulders.

The blonde girl visibly tensed, removing her face from Emily's comfortable shoulder and sat back.

"Why? It's cold." She answered too quickly. For a girl that had to lie as much as Hanna and the girls did, you would think she'd be better at it.

"Either take off your jacket or I'm taking you to a hospital." Emily threatened, knowing of Hanna's hatred of hospitals ever since her ex-best friend Mona ran her over and forced to be in one for many weeks.

Too exhausted to fight anymore, Hanna wordlessly slipped off her designer jacked to reveal to large hand-print shaped bruises on her upper arms.

Emily let out an audible gasp

"Oh my god, Hanna did you _Dad_ do this to you?" Emily asked incredulously.

Unable to form words, Hanna simply nodded, tears welling up like swimming pools in her gorgeous blue eyes.

"That's why I snapped at Aria. Because my Mom wants me to forgive him and try to get us to be a family again." Hanna croaked out, her voice was raspy from the crying.

"But he doesn't d-deserve to be forgiven!" Hanna whimpered

Emily's body shook with rage and if it wasn't for the beautiful, broken girl in her arms she would have personally beat the shit out of Hanna's father and Emily was a very peaceful person normally, just not when it came to hurting Hanna.

"Does she know…about this?" Emily asked softly, keeping the rage out of her voice and gesturing to the blonde's arms. As the fury built up inside the young swimmer, she willed herself to calm down, the last thing Hanna needed was more violence.

Hanna shook her head 'no' and Emily smiled ever so softly, at least Hanna's mom wasn't insane too.

"You have to tell her Han, she'd never want Tom back in your life if she knew." The taller girl reasoned.

"I c-can't okay? I can't talk about this with anyone but you." Hanna denied defensively, subconsciously snuggling herself further into a cocoon of her girlfriend's arms.

Emily nodded in understand, she'd pushed the blonde far enough for one night. They sat there together, Emily making soothing patterns on the blonde's back and holding her close while the blonde willed herself to relax and enjoy the company of her girlfriend, keeping her mind off the fucked up family situation she had.

The taller girl could practically feel her girlfriend over thinking and she could defiantly feel the tension that radiated from her body.

"Relax; everything is going to be okay. I've got you." Emily whispered soothingly as she gently shifted Hanna, mindful of her bruised arms into her lap and held her tightly.

Hanna closed her eyes, allowing herself to be truly at peace, with Emily's arms wrapped around her tightly, she felt like everything might just be okay after all.

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><p><strong>SO there's Hanna deal. Liked it? Loved it? Hated it? Please let me know. Next chapter will have the Sparia end of things and maybe some more Hannily. Thank you so much for reading and please, PLEASE leave me a review! Thank you! <strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**I'm alive. I can't believe it's been over a year. Thank you to everyone who stuck by this story during such a long wait. I sort of lost myself for a while there but I always appreciated your support. Everyone who reads this story is important to me and I really appreciate everyone review and piece of feedback. Without further ado, the next chapter. It's not terribly scandalous and I haven't edited it yet, I just really wanted to get it out there. **

Fury bubbled up underneath Emily's skin as she continued to drive herself and her, once again, practically catatonic girlfriend back to Spencer's house. After hearing Hanna's confession, any and all anger she'd previously felt toward her girlfriend had been replaced with fury aimed at Hanna's bastard of a father, concern for her girlfriend, and then more anger towards herself for not noticing that something was up with the blonde earlier.

"Han we're almost there. Are you sure you don't just want to crash at my place?" Emily asked again, her eyes begging for Hanna to just concede and allow the tan girl to drive them home.

"I'm sure," Hanna responded shortly. Her body language was tense, her expression was guarded and Emily couldn't even guess how her girlfriend was feeling.

Sighing, Emily accepted the stubborn girl's answer and pulled into the Hastings's driveway.

As Hanna excited the car and stood up, she smoothed over her clothes, gave her hair a quick brush-through with her hands and took a deep breath.

"Hanna if you just explain to Aria, she'll more than understand. No one will hold what happened earlier against you." Emily promised, reaching around and taking one of Hanna's hands in her own.

"Thank you," Hanna told her, sincerity dripping from her voice.

"That's what I'm here for," Emily smiled, giving the blonde's hand a squeeze.

Spencer answered the door swiftly to reveal a newly apologetic Hanna and a substantially more relaxed Emily. All three girls silently acknowledged the exhaustion coating one another's features.

"Can we come in?" Hanna asked wearily.

"I don't know Han, are you going to scream at my girlfriend again?" Spencer asked sarcastically.

Hanna's eyes were suddenly glued to the floor in shame and Emily sighed.

"Come on Spence, hear her out." Emily responded, a subtle bite in her tone. The taller girl's arm went to rest protectively around Hanna's waist as she led them inside together.

Spencer's demeanor seemed to soften when she saw how defeated Hanna appeared to be and how protective Emily was acting. Something had changed between the two of them, Spencer could tell. As far as the tall brunette had seen, Emily had not been too pleased with Hanna's outburst from earlier either so for the swimmer to forgive her so fast, Spencer knew that her friend must have an explanation.

Spencer followed the couple inside, pausing in her living room before silently directing her best friends to the kitchen, considering they didn't have the best track record for living room conversations.

Emily sat at one of the bar seats and slid off her jacket quietly as Spencer took a seat across from her. Hanna however, remained frozen standing with stiff posture and fidgeting hands.

"You can sit Han, we had a fight but you're always welcome in my house, you know that." Spencer told her calmingly.

Hanna nodded her thanks and cautiously took a seat next to Emily, her hands still fidgeting nervously until her athletic girlfriend covered them gently with her own. The threesome sat in silence for a solid two minutes before it was broken by Emily.

"Where's Aria?" she asked carefully.

Spencer hesitated, shooting a wary glance at Hanna before looking Emily in the eye "She's upstairs taking a shower. She should be out pretty soon."

Emily and Hanna nodded in understanding. In all their years of friendship, Aria had always turned towards showers for comfort during a stressful situation and they respected her need for it now even more.

"I only want to say this once, if that's okay." Hanna stated, speaking for the first time since entering the Hastings' house.

Spencer nodded once, seeming to sense the intensity of whatever was about to come out of the blonde bombshell's mouth.

About an hour later, the youngest brunette came trudging down the stairs with Spencer's clothes hanging off of her frail body and her wet hair cascading down her delicate shoulders.

"Spencer?" Aria called softly, as she rounded the corner to the kitchen.

Suddenly, the small girl froze. She hadn't heard the doorbell and her three best friends were sitting in silence, therefore she had no idea that Hanna or Emily would be there. She and Spencer hadn't even had a chance to talk about what had gone down yet. Spencer had gone for a run to release her anger and process the conversation and Aria had gone upstairs to take a shower. The couple, true to their word, was trying to become less co-depended on one another.

"Aria I am so sorry, about before." Hanna blurted out upon seeing the shorter girl.

"It's okay," Aria said quietly, refusing to meet anyone's gaze –regardless of Spencer's eyes being locked on her girlfriend, analyzing her body language- "I would have been upset too if I was in your position."

"No you don't understand, that had nothing to do with you and even less to do with Spencer. Not that I appreciated you dumping her or anything but I overreacted and I'm sorry. If you'll just give me a chance I can explain everything," Hanna pleaded.

Aria's hazel eyes flashed quickly to Spencer's reassuring brown ones as the older girl nodded to her once, offering support from across the room. Spencer wanted nothing more than to cross her kitchen, pull her girlfriend into her arms and protect her from this conversation – from remembering the pain she'd felt only hours ago.

But Spencer had promised.

She'd promised that things would be different, that she would trust Aria to know herself well enough to reach out for Spencer's protection when she needed it. She'd promised to not be overbearing when it came to Aria because it was hurting their relationship and they were promises she intended to keep. Most of the time, anyway.

Aria's gaze connected with Hanna's big blue eyes and she nodded her consent.

Hanna visibly relaxed and Emily gave her girlfriend's hand a squeeze of encouragement.

"Aria I yelled at you about the way you treated Spencer because I know what it's like to have your heart ripped out by someone you love, and then have them come back and expect to be forgiven," Hanna began.

Spencer opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by a look from Emily. The look in her best friend's eye told the taller brunette that now was not the time to interrupt their friend, regardless of her personal feelings.

"My Dad is in town visiting right now and I told him about my relationship with Emily and he didn't take it well," Hanna revealed, purposely glossing over the part where he had attacked her and verbally berated her until she'd been reduced to tears. Emily's eyes widened when she realized that Hanna was not planning to share the more intimate details with their very best friends but the swimmer kept her mouth shut and vowed to bring it up with Hanna when they were alone.

Immediately, Aria and Spencer's demeanors changed from guarded to concerned.

"Oh my God Hanna, I am so sorry. What happened? What did he say to you?" Aria questioned, closing the distance between herself and her friend and placing a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Nothing important. Just that he didn't approve of our lifestyle and some crap about how we're all ending up in Hell," Hanna answered lightly, trying to calm her friends.

"Han I am so sorry. My parents would be more than willing to talk to him, if you want. About accepting a lesbian daughter," Spencer offered, feeling terrible for her friend.

Hanna laughed softly "Somehow I don't think he'd be too open to that, but thanks for the offer Spencer.

The blonde turned her attention to her artsy friend again "Anyways Aria, I just wanted you to know how sorry I am for taking that out on you. I know that talking to the police about…what happened must have been nearly impossible and I wasn't there for you. So I'm sorry."

"I more than forgive you Han," Aria said, pulling her best friend into a gently hug; "It seems like all we ever do is apologize to each other these days," Aria joked lightly.

Spencer beamed with pride as she watched her girlfriend hug the blonde without flinching. Getting up out of her chair, Spencer walked over to her brunette girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her waist and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

Emily followed in suit, rising up from her seat at the kitchen bar and pulled Hanna into a circle of her arms, still mindful of the bruises that laced her upper arms.

Their moment was cut short by the beeping of all four of their phones, which could only mean one thing. The familiar feeling of dread knotted in each girl's stomach as they checked their phones.

**I warned you. Guess it's time for another skeleton to come out of the closet **

**-A**

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><p><strong>Hey guys. Thanks for reading! Sorry this wasn't the most exciting chapter, but it looks like another secret is about to come out. I wonder whose. If you have a preference please let me know! Thank you all so much and please leave a review! <strong>

**-Magic **


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